The Most Recently Disowned Black
by KaptainKass
Summary: Sirius bonds with the most recent member of the Black family to be disowned. Unrequited WolfStar. There was no war, so Lily, James, and Regulus (among others) survived. Original Characters. WARNING: rape mention. Modern-AU, no war-AU I, of course, own nothing that you recognize from the HP Universe - all characters, places, and spells belong to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
1. Chapter 1

Sirius Black couldn't sleep. That was unusual. It was almost three o'clock in the morning, and he was usually dead to the world long before now. He rolled out of bed, pulled on an old, thin, white t-shirt, and stuck his feet into a pair of slippers. He quietly snuck down the hall, pausing briefly at his 14 year old son's door. He could hear Rommy's soft snores, and immediately knew that Rommy wasn't the reason he was awake. He went downstairs and into the kitchen, stretching his arms high above his head. His t-shirt rode up slightly, revealing defined abs, a line of hair running from his navel and disappearing into the thin cotton pants he wore, and several tattoos covering his back and sides. At 35, he was still considered a very attractive man. Some said he was the most attractive of his group of friends, the same friends he had run around with at Hogwarts; however, Sirius tended to disagree. Knowing that sleep would be futile, he lazily pointed his wand at an old teapot, and it began to boil instantaneously. There was something wrong, though. The _toujours pur_ that had been magically branded on his wrist twenty years ago was itchy and burning for the first time in years. He desperately wanted to know why it was bothering him now, after eighteen years, but Remus knew the most about magical injuries and would probably murder Sirius for waking him up now, in the middle of the night. Instead, Sirius thought back to the night the words had been branded onto his arm forever, trying to remember anything that would give him a hint as to why it was hurting.

" _And may your name never darken this family again!" His mother had screeched as she had taken her wand to the tapestry and blasted his name off of it. He wasn't even quite sure what had happened. His parents had been discussing the latest werewolf attacks and how werewolves were disgracing the name of Death Eaters, and Sirius just snapped. He had been thinking of Remus already, of how gorgeous his smile was and how endearing it was when his hair fell in his eyes. When his father said that all werewolves should be euthanized at the time of their initial bite, Sirius had quickly stood, knocking his chair back with a loud clang._

 _"_ _WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP? DON'T YOU EVEN CARE THAT I'M IN LOVE WITH A HALF-BLOOD WEREWOLF? HE'S WONDERFUL AND BRILLIANT AND HE'S THE ONLY PERSON IN THIS DAMN WORLD WHO CARES ABOUT ME." He hadn't even realized what he was saying until it was too late. He had just admitted a few too many things to his judgmental, blood-purist parents, not to mention the fact that he had blatantly and openly disrespected them. His father and brother had both grown dangerously quiet, and his father starting flinging dark hexes at him before Sirius could react. His mother was also flinging hexes and curses at him, but she was doing it while dragging him by his hair to the room containing their family tapestry and shouting at him. His brother had abandoned his wand and was physically assaulting Sirius. As Walburga blasted his name off of the tapestry, his left wrist immediately began burning. He was confused, until he realized that the family motto,_ toujours pur _, was burning itself into his wrist._

After their return to Hogwarts, Sirius, along with James and Remus, had spent hours in the library trying to determine why James and Remus couldn't see the words, but his cousins and brother could. They eventually discovered that it was an ancient magic, that the words were linked to the tapestry. Anyone in the Black family, with Black blood, could see it. That was how they were to know that the particular Black with the words had been disowned. It was also to serve as a reminder to the Black bearing the branded words that he had been disowned, that his family had turned their back on him, that he was no longer welcome.

After coming out of his reverie, Sirius poured a cup of tea and wandered into the sitting room. He collapsed on the couch, putting his feet on the coffee table, and inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of his tea. He set his tea down, picking up a sketchbook, and started adding detail to an old sketch of a man (a teenage boy, really) transforming into a werewolf. This was convenient – while the man looked more like Remus, he could change some of the details to make it look more like Rommy.

After a few minutes, he realized that he was no longer drawing but rather writing "toujours pur" all over the paper.

Meanwhile, little Electra Black was being screamed at and hexed by her mother, cursed by her father, and punched by her brother. Electra was holding back tears while dodging fists and flashes of lights. She wasn't quite sure what had happened, although the tension had started five years ago, when she was sorted into Gryffindor. All she knew now, at this exact moment, was that her mother was blasting her name off of the family tapestry and her wrist was burning.


	2. Chapter 2

If she was honest, Electra wasn't expecting the attack to come from all three members of her family. After what she had done to her father, she hadn't thought he'd be capable of summoning the strength to cast the powerful Dark curses he was using on her. Her father was the most intelligent one in her family, the most gifted spell caster. Her mother was the loudest, the most gifted at bursting ear drums and alerting the entire neighborhood to when Electra had done something traitorous. Her brother, well, he was talented at using brute force to get what he wanted. At the present moment, what he wanted most was to cause his sister pain.

Electra was trying desperately not to cry as she was punched and hit with curses – some dead-on, and some she just caught the shield ends of. She was dueling with her father with everything she had – the only person in the family who had a chance of beating him. Unfortunately, while she was more talented and more intelligent as him, she wasn't nearly as dark as he was. She hated her father, but he was just a hate-filled man. When her mother finally blasted her name off the family tapestry, she stopped. She stopped dueling, stopped fighting, and stopped holding back the tears. Her wrist was burning, her eye and chest were aching where her brother had punched her, and her body was just in agony. She was ready to give up, to stop shielding the curses and let her father finish her off for good when she saw the small blast next to her father's name. She remembered something the family's house elf had told her when she was younger, and that memory gave her the strength to walk out of the room, storm up the stairs, magic all of her belongings into her trunk, and get out of the house. She summoned The Knight Bus, hoping that it could get her to where she wanted to go – even though she didn't actually know where she was going.

Sirius must have nodded off on the sofa, because he awoke suddenly to a knock that was somehow both timid and strong. Startled and confused, he slowly stood up and walked down the long hall to the front door. Throwing it open, he saw a young woman with raven black curls twisted into a knot, with a few pieces falling in her face, eyeliner and mascara mixing with tears and streaked down her face. She was pale, weak-looking, shaky. She was wearing a black velvet dress that clung to her petite frame and black high heels, with a trunk next to her. While he noticed all of this, two things struck him more. The first was the piercing grey eyes, and the second were the words glowing red on her left wrist – the same two words permanently branded on his wrist.

He had never met this woman, but he knew her instantly. She was him, twenty years ago. Without a word, he pulled her into a hug and let her cry against his chest. He quietly pulled the clip from her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders, and he stroked it while she cried. "I'm Sirius," he said gently. "Come inside." He put one arm around her waist and supported her weight while he magicked her trunk in behind them. He led her into the kitchen, where he carefully seated her on a chair at the kitchen table and wordlessly pointed his wand at the tea kettle. Once he had two large mugs of tea and had fished some of Lily's homemade biscuits out of the cupboard, he began talking.

"I'm going to Floo to my friend's house, he's much better at healing than I am, and it's evident that you need some healing. I'll be back as soon as I possibly can be. I have a son, Romulus, he's 14 and harmless. Sometimes he wakes up at odd hours, so don't be startled if he wanders into the kitchen." He gently placed a kiss on top of her head, the same as he had done to Rommy when he was small, and she immediately began to cry again. His heart shattered as he realized that small kiss was probably the first show of affection she had ever received.

Remus was sound asleep next to his wife, content in the knowledge that his children were safe, loved, and happy. He awoke to a loud crash coming from his living room, and knew instantly that Sirius was here. Sirius, his loud, obnoxious, best friend, was the only person who would be Flooing into his house in the middle of the night, and was the only person who was so loud when he Flooed in. Remus didn't want Sirius to burst into their bedroom and wake Natasha, so he quietly slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the stairs. Sirius was already on his way up when he met Remus, and, without explanation, grabbed Remus's wrist and started dragging him back towards the fireplace.

"You have to come with me, Rem, I need you to heal. You're a healer. I need you." Sirius said quickly and with a slightly panicked tone.

"Is it Romulus? Is something wrong? Sirius, I need you to take a breath and talk to me. If I'm leaving, I need to tell Natasha. I need to at least put on robes and shoes."

"There's no time. We'll owl Tash as soon as we get home. It's not Romulus. I don't know who she is, but she's a Black and she needs you. You can borrow my clothes if you truly can't heal in pyjamas. Just _come on_." His eyes shone with tears and fear, and Remus knew it was best not to ask questions and to just go.


	3. Chapter 3

Electra was grateful for how readily her uncle welcomed her into his home, despite the fact that he truly had no idea who she was. She drained her tea, and then began slowly sipping from the other mug. The tea had warmed her slightly, but she was still cold and shaking. She jumped when she heard a pop and two male voices coming from the general direction of where she assumed the fireplace was located, and immediately began shaking again. She recognized the first voice as belonging to Sirius, but she had never heard the second voice. As the two men came through the doorway into the kitchen, Electra calmed slightly. The second man had a kind face with an easy smile, and the way Sirius looked at him made Electra comfortable with him.

Remus was impressed with the self-control Sirius was exhibiting. He was actually quiet, for once, as the two men Flooed to Sirius's house. As they walked down the long hall into the kitchen were Sirius had left the girl, he quickly explained everything he knew (which, admittedly, wasn't much – only that she had shown up on his doorstep and that she was very clearly a Black who had been disowned, as well as the fact that the branded motto on his arm had been burning for the first time in nearly twenty years). As they entered the kitchen, Remus was struck by how small, pale, and scared she looked. In fact, she looked frighteningly like Sirius had on the day he had shown up on the Lupin's doorstep after being disowned by his own parents.

"I'm Remus, love, Sirius is my best mate. I'm a Healer. You don't have to tell me what happened, but if you have any idea of what curses you've been hit with, it could speed up the healing process quite a bit." Remus said softly, gently placing two fingers under her chin and lifting her face in order to get a better look at the bruises and marks there.

"More tea, love?" Sirius asked, noting the empty cup next to the half-empty one. The girl nodded, and Sirius flicked his wand at the kettle while offering a reassuring smile. "I've told you, I'm Sirius. I know you're a Black, but I don't know by whom. My parents were Walburga and Orion, my brother was Regulus. You don't have to tell me your direct lineage if you don't want, I just thought it'd be easier for you if you knew mine. My son, Romulus, I adopted him so he's not truly a Black, lucky kid. If you're at all like the Blacks I grew up with, you're accustomed to much better tea. I have that, if you'd like it, my friends tell me that I kept the snobbish refined accent and the upper-class tea preferences. The only reason I didn't make it the first time was because I thought maybe you'd had enough of the Blacks. I was sorted into Gryffindor, and that's where I met Remus here." Sirius was saying gently. Remus recognized what Sirius was doing at once – he was talking her down, making her comfortable. He may know nothing about this woman, but it was clear that he already cared for her deeply.

"Electra," the young woman said quietly, her voice cracking on the last syllable. "My name. It's Electra. Regulus is – was – my father. You're – you're my uncle." Tears filled two pairs of grey eyes at the mention of Regulus, the lost brother and the lost father. As she says this, Remus gently mutters Healing spells, while softly tapping the bruises from her brother and the marks from her father. As Remus steadily moves down her arm, Sirius realizes that he forgot to remind Remus of the branded words on her arm. As Remus gets close, Sirius gasps and flinches as Electra no longer holds back her tears and begins crying silently.

"Remus," Sirius urges quietly. "Let go of her wrist." Remus tries to argue, telling Sirius that he needs to heal the young woman and he needs to be permitted to do so as he sees fit. Sirius glares furiously, and Remus tries to remember when the last time he saw his friend so angry was. Sirius, of course, isn't angry at him, but he's angry. Angry at the situation, angry at his brother for doing the same thing to his daughter that he had done to his brother, angry at the "noble" house of Black, angry at everything. Not angry at Electra. Not angry at Remus. Possibly angry at himself. "The words, the words that you and James could never see. Electra has them, too."

Upstairs, Romulus rolls over and slams a pillow on top of his head. Damn his exceptional hearing, his almost superhuman senses. He had heard the knock on the front door, but had been able to ignore the quiet voices. However, with the first _pop_ of the Floo network, Romulus had woken for good and was unable to drift back into the land of sleep. He could hear three voices, even though he could only make out a few words. He knew that Remus was there, and he could tell that his father was incredibly upset. He heard a third voice, a woman's voice, although he didn't recognize it. He suspected that Remus was healing her. Knowing that attempting to sleep was futile, he decided to go investigate. He didn't want his father to know he was coming, just in case his father decided to try to hide what was going on from him, so he tiptoed down the stairs in stocking feet. He knew, of course, that Remus would still hear him, but Remus generally didn't try to hide things from Romulus.

Remus had finished Healing Electra, and was in the process of pouring three large, steaming mugs of tea, when he suddenly grabbed a fourth mug. Electra still hadn't said a word, other than to tell Sirius that Regulus was her father. She was pale, cold, and shaking, and Remus suspected that she needed sleep and love more than anything. "Romulus is on his way down, Sirius, just so you know." He quietly told the other man. Sirius, who had been deep in thought, looked startled at the sound of his friend's voice.

"Do you think we woke him? I didn't think we were that loud," Sirius replied. He spoke at his normal volume – considerably louder than he had been talking since Electra had knocked on his door. Electra jumped, and Sirius cringed. Remus, on the other hand, handed her one of the tea mugs and started speaking in soft, reassuring tones. As he spoke, Electra pulled her feet up so they were on the chair, and wrapped her arms around her legs.

Sirius was hit with a sudden surge of love for the man in front of him, stronger than he had felt in years.

"What in the bloody hell is going on? Dad, why is Remus here in the middle of the night? He's only here in the middle of the night when there's some sort of emergency and someone needs Healed." The teenage boy said as he turned the corner into the kitchen. He plopped himself down in the chair next to Electra, not even noticing when she seemed to somehow pull herself in even more.


	4. Chapter 4

"Language, Romulus," Sirius muttered tiredly. The man was suddenly exhausted, overwhelmed by the emotional enormity of the situation. The scared, crying young woman in front of him was his _niece_ , and he had absolutely no idea that she even existed before tonight. He rubbed a hand down his face, trying to figure out how to explain to Rom who Electra was and why she was here. Of course, he didn't know the details and couldn't actually tell his son what had happened, but he knew that that was probably for the best. If she wanted to tell her uncle why she had been cursed, beaten, and disowned, she would. If not, Sirius was hardly going to press her for information.

"Sorry, Dad," Romulus replied sheepishly. He recognized his father's stressed voice, and noticed the tight, tired face.

"Rom, this is Electra," Remus explained, hoping that his friend wouldn't mind him taking control of the situation. "She's, well, Sirius?" He stopped suddenly, unsure of how to continue.

"She's your cousin, Rom."

"I, how? Dad, you don't have family?" He asked more than he said, confused. He knew that his father had had parents once upon a time, but he never mentioned them. As far as he knew, Remus and James were the closest that his father had to brothers. It was obvious, though, that the woman sitting in front of him was related to his father. She had the same grey eyes, the same black waves, the same haughty look.

"I did once, Rom. I had a brother, Regulus. I was disowned, blasted off of the family tree when I was fifteen. Electra, she's Regulus's daughter. Electra, love, this is Romulus, the son I was telling you about. He's fourteen, and a current Hogwarts student. He's home for the Christmas holiday." At the mention of Regulus, Electra once again began to cry quietly.

"Sirius, do you have anything more comfortable that Electra can change into? I know you're considerably taller than her, but perhaps a pair of pyjama pants and a t-shirt." Remus asks, noting for the first time the clinging dress, the black stockings, and the high heels that the woman wore. "Perhaps you can show her the loo, as well. Electra, dear, you must be dying to get out of that dress and wash your face." Electra nodded, smiling slightly at the man's soft words.

Sirius summoned a pair of clean pyjamas and a soft t-shirt for the girl and, offering her a smile, handed them to her, apologizing for the size.

"S-Sirius?" The girl asked, her voice cracking slightly.

"Yes, love?"

"Can, can I, maybe, hug you?" She asked quietly, looking at the floor shyly, her voice breaking on the last word. She was so grateful for the man's welcome, his warm demeanor, and his kindness. Sirius extended his hand, roughly pulling her off of her chair and into a warm, tight, embrace.

Natasha Lupin woke up to find her husband's side of the bed empty. She vaguely remembered Sirius bursting in and dragging him out of bed in the middle of the night, but had no idea what for. She knew that she would find no note, but that if she called on the Black household, she would more than likely find her husband there. She thought about it, but decided instead to owl Lily Potter and ask whether she still wanted to go Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley today. As she sat down at the table and began to write, she was surprised to find Sirius's owl, Snuffles, tapping at her window. She rushed over and let the bird in, taking the parchment tied to his leg and unfurling it carefully. There, she found a note scrawled in her husband's messy handwriting.

 _Nash,_ it read, _Sirius has a niece, Electra. She was apparently disowned last night, after a nasty duel – both magical and physical. Sirius asked me to come Heal her. She's asleep now, poor girl must be absolutely exhausted. I'm going to stay for a tad longer, just to make sure there are no nasty lingering effects that decide to show themselves within the next few hours. Bring the kids for breakfast, if you'd like, Rommy would love to see his cousins. I'm owling the Potters as well. Your loving husband, Remus._

Natasha had always been very mothering, and it devastated her to think that there were people who didn't love and care for their children. Her first impression of Sirius was that he had been deprived of love during his childhood, and it broke her heart to learn that she had been correct. Tears filled her warm brown eyes as she read the letter and realized just how horrible Sirius's family must be. She poured herself a cup of coffee, and then went to rouse her three children. As much as they disliked being awoken early when on holiday, she knew that their love for Romulus, Sirius, and the Potters would outweigh their hatred of mornings. Besides, Sirius always went all out when decorating for Christmas – probably because his childhood home had _never_ been decorated – and Natasha and the children hadn't seen it since he finished the fairy lights and suspending crystallized snowflakes in midair. In the eyes of her young children (and, okay, in her and Remus' eyes as well), Sirius's extravagant magical decorations were much better than their modest tree and the garlands on the staircase railings.

James and Lily Potter were sitting at their kitchen table with hot cups of coffee and fresh muffins in front of them. Their son, Harry, was sound asleep in his bedroom upstairs (they hoped), but Petunia, their daughter, was a perpetual morning person and was sitting with them with her cat curled up in her lap. She was a first year at Hogwarts and was animatedly telling them about her first term. James was watching the snow falling outside more than he was listening, but Petunia didn't even seem to notice. Of course, while he enjoyed being awake in the morning, he didn't much care for actually _functioning_ in the morning. He needed several more cups of coffee before he could properly process what his daughter was telling him. Luckily for him, Lily was wonderful and was contentedly listening to Petunia.

James must have dozed off at the table, because suddenly there was a tall man with dark hair and grey eyes standing in his kitchen. "Sirius? What in the name of Salazar's snake are you doing in my kitchen at," he checked his watch swiftly, "half six in the morning?"

Sirius answered his question as animatedly as Petunia had just been telling her parents (mother) about Hogwarts. Unfortunately, his answer made absolutely no sense.

"Petunia, darling, go wake your brother, and do it _nicely_. Sirius, sit down, tell us again – slowly. Would you like some tea or coffee? Perhaps a muffin?" Lily gently commanded. Sirius shook his head, and plopped himself in the chair his goddaughter had just vacated.

"Regulus. He had a daughter. Electra. I had no idea she existed. She showed up on my door last night. This morning. It was nearly 4. Remus came and Healed her, she was a mess. She's asleep now. Remus says she won't sleep long. She doesn't seem that much older than I was when I was disowned, but Romulus says he's never seen her before and she doesn't go to Hogwarts." For the first time in years, James actually listened and comprehended what someone was saying in the morning. Lily covered Sirius's hand with one of hers. "Remus owled Nash, she's bringing the rest of their litter. I was hoping you lot would come, too. I know Rom misses Harry desperately, the two must be attached at the hip at school, and, well, I'd love Electra to see that there are some wonderful people in the world. I've a feeling she hasn't met too many decent people."

"Of course, Sirius. That's why I sent Petunia to wake Harry. I'll make some more muffins and bring them." Lily says. James is just staring at Sirius, his mouth hanging open. "James, close your mouth."

"I'm sorry. It's just – someone actually procreated with _Regulus?_ " He practically screeches indignantly. That breaks the slight tension that none of the three knew was even there, and Lily and Sirius both burst into laughter. "Anyways, of course we'll come. Lils, I know you were planning on going to Diagon Alley with Nash today, this will work."

Electra woke up suddenly, breathing hard and shaking slightly. She was terrified of facing her father, after the things she said and did last night. As she lay there, trying to calm her breathing, she began noticing differences in the bedroom she was in and the bedroom she had grown up in. The walls were a warm red, there was sunlight coming in from the clean windows. The room didn't feel damp and cold, and there was no sign of Slytherin colors or the Black family crest. The biggest difference, however, was the sound of laughter floating up the stairs. Laughter, not screaming. Memories of last night hit her like a rogue bludger. She cautiously slipped out of bed and began making her way downstairs to where the sound was coming from.


	5. Chapter 5

Electra was in pyjamas and a t-shirt that were way too big, and she could feel that her normally tamed curls were a wild mess. She couldn't remember ever being dressed in something so casual, or looking so un-put-together. Part of her wanted to go back to her bedroom, change into something presentable, fix her hair, put on her makeup, and make sure she was perfect before presenting herself. After all, she was a Black. She had been trained and always look and act better than everyone else.

But. Sirius had seen her bruised and battered, in tears, a miserable mess, and he had still shown her more kindness in just a few hours than her entire family had in her whole life. She was giving up on her "family." After all, they had given up on her.

Electra hadn't belonged in Durmstrang, and was grateful that this was her last year there. Sure, she was a gifted witch and excelled in all of her classes – even the Dark Arts, but it wasn't for her. She didn't have the personality or the cunning that her classmates had. She was almost dangerously brave, she was open-minded, and her haughty act was just that – an act. Blood purity had been drilled into her head from birth, along with the fact that she was among the most pure because she was a Black.

 _Toujours pur._ Always pure.

She laughed once, humorlessly, before clamping a hand over her mouth. Her wrist was burning, the words that had been repeated countless times throughout her childhood glowing red. She had noticed the same words on Sirius's wrist the night before and had wanted to ask him if the words ever faded, or at least stopped hurting.

"Ahh, Electra! Did you sleep well? Are you hungry? Let's get you to the kitchen. But first! Introductions!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly as his terrified looking niece crossed the threshold into the sitting room. He stood, bounding over to her, and took her hand. He gently tugged her to the sofa and sat next to her.

On the floor, Harry, Rom, and John (Remus's middle child), were wrestling and discussing Quidditch tactics. Petunia and Lyall, Remus and Nash's youngest, were sitting together in a large armchair, giggling. Genevieve, the eldest Lupin child, was also on the floor, her back against the armchair that the two younger children were in. Sirius pointed to each child, telling Electra their names, before starting on the adults.

"Remus, you've already met, of course," Sirius said, nodding to the spot on another sofa where the man was dozing. "That's his wife, Nash, the blonde one. Genevieve, John, and Lyall belong to them. The red-head next to her is Lily, James's wife. James is this bloke sitting next to you. Harry and Petunia are theirs. You don't have to remember everyone's names right away. They'll all be patient. And if not, I'll hex them and they know it."

"No threats, Sirius," Lily said as she stood. "Really though, are you hungry? Nash and I both brought food. Merlin knows Sirius can't cook to save his life."

"I suppose I could eat a bit," Electra responded quietly. She was overwhelmed by the sense of family in the room, at how relaxed everyone appeared to be. Hell, her parents were first cousins and married and there was still no sense of family, not to mention the fact that when people did visit the Black manor, everyone seemed to be uptight. Electra and Nash follow Lily into the kitchen, where the two women give Electra tea, muffins, eggs, sausage, and potatoes. After a few minutes, Genevieve wanders in, carrying a canvas bag.

"I brought jeans and a shirt for you. I wasn't sure if they'd fit or not, but we seem to be about the same size. I remember Sirius telling us once about all of the stiff, boring, uncomfortable clothes that he was forced to wear growing up, so I figured you'd have similar clothes." Genevieve sat next to her, offering her the bag. "There's some elastics in there as well, for your hair."

"Thank you." Electra's voice is fervent, grateful, as she remembers her trunk full of skirts, dresses, starched shirts, uncomfortable shoes. Her eyes fill with tears again at the generosity of the girl who has never met her.

"I threw in some licorice wands and sugar quills, too," Genevieve whispers conspiratorially. Then, raising her voice back to a normal volume, "I've just turned 18. I'm in my last year at Hogwarts."

"I've also just turned 18, in October. I attend Durmstrang Academy, though. My parents felt that Hogwarts had 'gone soft,' or something," she explained with another dry, humorless laugh.

"That laugh sounds so like Sirius, don't you think, Nash," Lily says with a chuckle. The similarities between the two Blacks are so apparent already. "Genevieve, you must be thrilled to finally have someone your age in the family."

"Wait. In the family?" Electra asks, choking on her tea. "You've only just met me, and you already want me in the family?"

" _Of course_ we want you in the family! Why wouldn't we? That's sort of our thing, bringing people into our family. Besides, I _need_ you. The closest people to my age are a gang of fourteen year old boys. Now, what do you say we go get you into some clothes that actually fit?"


	6. Chapter 6

"So." James started. "Regulus has children. Does that mean he married that horrid woman that your parents had intended for you?"

"James!" Sirius yelled, smacking his friend in the back of the head. "That horrid woman happened to be my cousin and she was lovely!"

"She was horrid and you know it. I don't care that she was your cousin. In fact, that actually makes your family a tad worse. Damn inbreeding blood purists."

Lily and Nash were at Diagon Alley finishing their Christmas shopping and the children were off playing Quidditch, along with a crew of their friends that had Flooed in (Electra had volunteered to magic the makeshift Quidditch pitch so that it stayed warm and dry – a rather useful spell that Sirius suspected was essential to surviving at Durmstrang). Sirius was sitting in the kitchen with James and Remus, the three men enjoying a wonderfully aged bottle of expensive Firewhiskey.

"She looks just like you, Sirius. That had to be disconcerting for Regulus. I mean, you two always looked like brothers, but Electra looks as though someone transfigured an 18-year-old you into a girl." Remus remarked.

"Do you think that's why they sent her to Durmstrang? She reminded Regulus too much of me?" Sirius asked. He had been wondering that since he learned that the girl didn't attend Hogwarts, but rather the school famous for the Dark Arts education it provided. "I know that probably sounds arrogant."

"You always sound arrogant, Siri. I reckon it's an occupational hazard of being raised as the heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black." James reasoned. The three men laughed, and Sirius raised his glass for a toast. The trio clinked their glasses, drained them, and then sat in companionable silence.

After about ten minutes, Remus spoke up again. "You know, I can't help but wondering what Peter's reaction to Electra would be."

"Probably a combination of disdain and shock at how awful my family is. He always did hate when the topic arose."

"You were so good at hiding it, though. I mean, logically, we knew your family was awful after the Howler your mother sent when you were Sorted, but none of us knew that they were actually abusive until what, the beginning of fifth year? Sometimes I think it's a miracle that you turned out to be a decent human being." Remus tells him quietly, thinking about the first night he found out that Sirius's parents starved him, beat him, tortured him, cursed him.

 _"_ _Sirius. You're upset." Remus had said to the sulking heir. Sirius was sitting on the top stair of a staircase in an unused part of the castle. It had taken Remus nearly two hours to find him._

 _"_ _Wow. Observant." Sirius muttered, his voice dripping with contempt and sarcasm._

 _"_ _Something happened over the summer." When his friend hadn't responded, Remus had sat down next to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. Sirius moved closer to the warm boy, half snuggling into his side and dropping his head on the werewolf's shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"_

 _"_ _Not really, but I get the feeling that you're going to make me anyways. Besides, you wouldn't understand. Your parents love you"_

 _"_ _Sirius. I understand not wanting to talk about something. Mate, there is something_ huge _about me that only approximately eight people – nine including myself – know. But I am going to ask you again to talk about it, because it seems as though it's something major and dangerous. So. Would you like to talk about what's bothering you?"_

 _"_ _Have you ever thought about what the Cruciatus Curse would feel like?"_

 _"_ _I can't say that I have. Why, have you?"_

 _"_ _Yeah. I was wrong. It feels nothing like I imagined."_

 _"_ _Sirius, what are you talking about? Were you so curious that you tried it on yourself? Because I've read that performing it on yourself produces vastly different effects than having someone else put you under the curse."_

 _"_ _Do you really think I'm mad enough that I would use Crucio on myself?" Sirius's voice broke on the word Crucio, and Remus began to put together what his friend was saying._

 _"_ _No. I think your father's mad enough to use it on you. Sirius. Look at me," Remus said gently, putting two fingers under the other boy's chin and raising his head. "Sirius. I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest with me. Okay?"_

 _"_ _Okay." His voice was shaking and tears were falling._

 _"_ _Was that the first time your father has ever hurt you?" Sirius stared at him for a beat, before slowly shaking his head. Remus removed his hand from Sirius's shoulder, and instead wrapped his arm around his waist._

 _"_ _Remus, I…" Sirius started, his voice trailing off. He began leaning towards . . . ._

"REMUS!" James shouted, drawing Remus back to the present. "What on earth is going on in that brilliant mind of yours?! I've been shouting your name for entirely too long."

"James, you think any amount of time that someone isn't paying attention to you is entirely too long."

"True." James agreed, laughing. "Sirius, I've a question for you. You don't have to answer, of course."

"Go for it." Sirius was refilling all three of their glasses.

"The motto, that's burned on your arm. You said Electra has it, too. Does it hurt?"

"Not so much anymore, but it hurt like hell for nearly three years," Sirius says with a shrug. "It twinged a bit last night, right before Electra showed up, but it didn't burn nearly as much as it did for those first years."

"Why didn't you ever tell us it hurt?" Remus asks curiously.

"You were already worried about me enough, the whole lot of you. I didn't need to make your concern any worse. Besides, none of you could even see it. How was I to expect you to make it better?"

After more discussion about the branding magic, the subject changes to Christmas gifts. "I want to go shopping for Electra, but I don't want to leave her and Rom alone this close to the full. Electra's certainly on edge enough as it is, and Rom, well, you know how it is Remus, and James, you've seen Remus."

"I'll stay with them. I think Electra already trusts all of us, but I'll be able to control Rom if the wolf freaks out. I've had a lot more time to learn to control the wolf in the days leading up to the full, and the teenage years are the hardest on the wolf. They'll both be fine." Remus offered. "Sirius, I still don't understand why you adopted a six year old werewolf who had been abandoned in St. Mungo's by his parents. I mean, I'm certainly not criticising, or even questioning. I just – I just don't understand."

"Remus, how could I not? One of my two best friends is a werewolf. I've spent my entire adult life – twenty years – advocating and legislating for werewolf rights. I desperately wanted a child, but we all know that's not going to happen naturally. When you owled me that night, telling me there was a little boy, freshly bitten, whose parents had just left him there, I knew what I had to do. When you told me his name was Romulus – the counterpart to Remus – my decision was confirmed. I'd adopt every werewolf who was abandoned by his or her parents, if I could."

"You, Sirius Orion Black, have the biggest heart I've ever seen," Remus said while he closed James's mouth.

"Honestly, mate, I just figured you did it as one more way of getting back at your parents, even if they didn't know." All three men laughed again. As the laughter died down, they heard the door to the house shut with a gentle click.

"Well, I should be off. Lily's sister and her family are coming for Christmas Eve dinner, and I've been assigned to hide anything that might freak them out. I'll be around tomorrow, though." James said, standing and heading towards the fireplace.

"I'm going out to find Romulus. He'll be watching Quidditch, but not playing, so this might be a good time to chat with him." Remus also stands, and walks the opposite direction of James. He passes Electra on his way out of the house, noting that she looks overwhelmed and exhausted. He offers her a nod and a small smile, and she suddenly throws her arms around him. Startled, he hugs her back. It only lasts for a few seconds, though, before she quickly withdraws.

"I'm – I'm sorry. You just seem so kind. I'm sorry," she tells him, staring at the floor.

"Electra, don't be sorry. If your family is anything like Sirius's was, you must be starved for affection. I didn't mind that at all. Really."

"Hi, love," Sirius says with an easy smile as Electra sits down next to him. "How was Quidditch?"


	7. Chapter 7

"How was Quidditch?"

"It was fine. Everyone was quite nice. Harry's very skilled."

"Don't let James or Harry hear you say that. They've both large enough egos as it is. Firewhiskey?" He asked, summoning a clean glass. Electra nodded. "So, do you play Quidditch at school?"

"Beater. I'm actually captain of one of the teams. I've played since my first year." She took a long drink of her firewhiskey. "Remus and James didn't have to leave just because I came in." She stared at the table as she said that, and Sirius reached over and covered her hand with his.

"Love, they didn't. Well, they did, but they did it because I told them that I was looking forward to talking with you more. Blame me, not them." He withdrew his hand from hers. "You look much more comfortable in Gen's clothes than you did in that dress last night."

"I've never worn jeans before. In fact, I've never worn anything except awful dresses and skirts." Electra said with a smile. It was true that she looked much more relaxed in her jeans, Gryffindor Quidditch shirt, and trainers, with her hair pulled into a ponytail and no makeup. "I've never even played Quidditch in clothes like this."

"I remember those days. My mother wouldn't let me wear anything except full, three-piece suits after I turned thirteen. I stole clothes from James and Remus all the time. They didn't fit, but they were still better than those itchy things. I was a beater, too, by the way. I started as a chaser, but our head of house recommended that I switch to playing beater as an attempt to get out some anger and aggression. It worked."

"That's why I wanted to play beater, actually. There's just something about pretending that the Bludgers are my parent's faces."

"I had it better. Rather than pretending the Bludger was Regulus, I just hit it directly at him. I don't think there was a game between us where one of us didn't knock the other off of his broom. A few of our cousins played as well, Narcissa and Cassiopeia." Sirius is partly reminiscing on his years on the Quidditch team, partly fishing for information on Electra's family. "Of course, Cassiopeia was not only our cousin, but also our half-sister. I was to marry her – I'm not sure whether her parents promised her to me or the other way. Of course, that never happened."

"Of course not. She married my father instead." Electra said bitterly, staring into her glass. Suddenly, she perked up. "Wait! Does that mean you're my uncle on both sides? And does that mean that he was my father and my uncle and that she was my mother and my aunt?!"

Sirius barked a laugh. "I've never heard anyone sum up Black family inbreeding quite as accurately or succinctly."

"Of course, there are many more layers to the Black family inbreeding that are just too convoluted for words."

"But of course." The two sit in silence for the briefest of moments. Sirius unabashedly stares at Electra, trying to piece together what he's observed thus far. She rarely looks at anyone directly, and yet she still has an air of haughtiness, arrogance, of being the eldest child in a Black family. She seems to withdraw into herself when she's touched, or when someone brandishes a wand when she's in the room. Loud noises made her flinch. Sighing slightly, Sirius realized that, in the 15 or so hours that she had been here, that was all he had noticed about her. "I'm not going to force you to tell me anything, Elle, but if you want to tell me what happened, or anything else, I'll be happy to listen."

"I'm not sure you really do want to hear it." For the first time, Electra met his eyes. "I'm not sure what your family was like and what happened to get you disowned, and I can tell that Regulus isn't your favorite person in the world, but he's still your brother and I'd rather not ruin any pleasant memories that you do have of him."

"Elle, you won't ruin any memories."

"Why did you start calling me Elle? No one has ever called me anything other than Electra. After all, the Black family hardly considers nicknames appropriate."

"I just thought it suited you better. It's less harsh, less – pureblood, for want of a better word. It's kinder, prettier. If you'd like, though, I'll revert to calling you Electra."

"No. I, I like Elle. It's different." After a beat of silence that was just a tad too long, Electra looks up at Sirius's eyes again. "Ae you quite sure I won't ruin any memories of Regulus or Cassiopeia?"

"I haven't many good memories to ruin, love. I'd be honoured if you chose to tell me any or all of what your childhood was like and what your parents did to you."

"I imagine you know quite what my childhood was like. Lots of shouting, lots of formal dinners, lots of our family being better than everyone else's."

"Loads of punishments, as well, simply for being a normal child?"

Again, Electra laughed her humourless, bitter laugh. "Black children aren't _permitted_ to be _normal_." She perfectly mimicked the look of disgust that Sirius recognized as his mother's and the disdainful tone that he remembered Cassiopeia, her mother, his cousin and half-sister having. "I should be preparing for my wedding right now, rather than sitting here, drinking firewhiskey with my long lost uncle."

"Your – your wedding?!" Sirius half-shrieks. "They kicked you out two nights before your wedding?! That's low, even for our family."

"Well, not exactly. The wedding had been planned for tomorrow for, well, probably ten years. Unfortunately, in September, when he came to visit me at school, he became rather – incapacitated. No one could ever prove that I had anything to do with it." She took a deep breath and looked into her now empty glass. "Would you mind terribly if I made a cup of tea?"

"Of course! Tea it is," Sirius said and, with a few flicks of his hand, a steaming cup of (brewing) tea was in front of Electra.

"The plan all along was to wait until the set wedding date passed, and then offer me to another man."

"Oh? I suppose they had that other man in mind already. Do you know who it was?"

"You."

"What?" Sirius yells, spitting a mouthful of firewhiskey all over Electra. "They were going to offer you to me?"

"It was meant to be a reconciliation. An olive branch, if you will. That, and you obviously have a pure enough blood-line to carry on the family name."

"Electra," Sirius says fervently, once again covering her hands with his. "I never would have agreed to that. You're my niece. You're twenty years younger than me. Perhaps most importantly, though, I doubt you'd have wanted to marry me."

"You say that as if anyone has ever cared about what I want. I'm a girl. My job in life is to marry well and have sons and maybe a daughter or two."

"Oh, Elle. You're brilliant, and lovely. You should not be this bitter. What did they do to you?" Sirius asked under his breath, Electra barely able to make out the words.

"You don't want to know," she replied darkly, angrily, bitterly.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm still a bit hesitant about leaving the two of them here together. I know you're here, but I realized last night how angry Elle is and I know the day of the full is always hardest, even with the Wolfsbane." Sirius tells Remus over coffee and porridge.

"Elle. I like it. It suits her. And Siri, I know you're worried, but I honestly believe they'll be fine. Rom is curious about his cousin, and Elle doesn't want to be a Black. She may be angry, but is she directing her anger properly?"

"I suppose. She only seems to be angry at her parents and Walburga and Orion, so you're probably right and they'll be fine. I just don't want her to feel as though I've abandoned her."

"Love, she's not going to feel as if you abandoned her because you went to Diagon Alley to buy her Christmas gifts."

"You still call me love. The only people you call love are Nash and Gen, and Elle now." Sirius points out with a sad smile.

"Siri, I tried so desperately to love you. I wanted to love you. I just – I couldn't love you the way you deserve to be loved," Remus said, taking one of Sirius's hands in both of his.

"Remus, I know. You're not into blokes, you never were. It wouldn't have been fair of me to ask you to give up women – to give up the type of relationship you deserve – just because it's what I would have preferred. Besides, Nash is wonderful and you're a great father." Sirius covers Remus's hands with the one that's not being held, and the two men sit like that, not speaking.

"Does Nash know about our history?" Sirius asks, breaking the silence. Remus laughs, and opens his mouth to answer when he notices Elle standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Good morning, love. Did you sleep well?" He asks, gently extracting his hands from Sirius.

"I – am I interrupting something? I'm sorry. I can leave. I didn't actually hear anything." She looks at the ground, covering her left wrist with her right hand.

"No, dear, you're not interrupting anything. Would you like some coffee, tea, porridge? Something different? I know Lily and Nash think I can't cook, but I can cook _some_ things."

"Bacon. Ham. Stew. Other forms of meat. That's about all he can cook." Remus says with a warm smile and soft chuckle. "Come. Sit. Eat. Chat."

"Sirius, your bed is quite comfortable." Elle says quietly. Remus turns bright red and Sirius barks out a laugh. "That's not what I meant! Oh, Merlin, that came out wrong! Oh, I'm so sorry." She also begins turning red, and covers her face with her hands.

"It's just – the topic of conversation before you came in. That fit rather perfectly. And I knew exactly what you meant, dear. I'm glad you're comfortable." Sirius reassures her, setting a cup of coffee in front of her and putting one hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to go finish dressing and be off. Remus, Elle, do either of you need anything?"

"Siri, where do you keep Rom's potion? Just in case you aren't back or the moon rises sooner than expected."

"In the cabinet in my bedroom. The one that I painted the wolf on. Rom knows where it is, too."

"I assumed he knew, but I need to know where it is in case he goes mad or something. I know you're worried, but you needn't be. I can handle this, Sirius. I know what I'm doing. I do have three children."

"Yes, but you have Nash, and none of your children are teenaged werewolves or angry Blacks."

"Yes, but I was a teenaged werewolf and I have plenty of experience dealing with angry Blacks. Namely, you. Go. We'll be fine. Right, Elle?"

"Right. Sirius, I don't know where you're going, but go. I'll be fine with Remus and Romulus." She picks up her coffee and drinks deeply, allowing it to warm her constantly cold body.

"Okay, okay. You two are quite convincing. I'll be back this afternoon. James said that he and Harry might come round, maybe bring Lyall and John. Lily and Petunia and Nash and Genevieve may go to lunch or something, Elle, if you perhaps want to join. You don't have to, no one will be offended." With that, Sirius turned on his heel and practically marched to his bedroom. He quickly knotted his still-shoulder length hair, pulled on a clean black shirt, decided his jeans were acceptably clean to be out in public, and shoved his feet into his heavy black boots. While he did all of this, he thought about what to give Elle for Christmas.

 _"_ _Normal clothes," he told the Lupins. They had been asking for a week, since he showed up on Remus's doorstep disheveled, disowned, and dragging his heavy trunk. (He never would have imposed upon the Lupins – he knew they struggled as it was – but the Potters were on holiday.) They had finally worn him down, continuously asking him what he would like for his upcoming birthday. He didn't want anything additional. They had already taken him in without question and had showed him more love in the week that he had been there than his parents had shown him his whole life. Mrs. Lupin made sure he was eating enough and Mr. Lupin, well, was talking to him. He actually asked for Sirius's opinion and listened to what he had to say._

 _A week later, on his birthday, he woke to find that the Lupins and the Potters had outfitted him with an entire new wardrobe. Jeans, shirts, trainers and boots. He had never felt so much love from a gift._

"Normal clothes. She needs normal clothes. And shoes that aren't heels," he muttered to himself, frantically searching for a piece of parchment and a quill. He scribbled a quick letter for Genevieve, asking her what sizes that his niece would likely wear.

Elle, Remus, and Romulus were sitting around the kitchen table. Remus and Romulus were both devouring bacon, while Elle was slowly sipping her third or fourth cup of coffee. She was already dressed, her hair twisted into a knot on top of her head. Her posture was perfect. Everything about her was perfect, Rom thought in disgust. She was too proper, too high-class (or perhaps high-strung).

"Are you really only 18?" Rom asked suddenly.


	9. Chapter 9

"I know Electra is only 18, but she seems so much older. How awful do you think her childhood was?" Nash asks Lily over a glass of wine in the Potter sitting room. "She's the same age as Gen, but I can't imagine Gen being as, I don't know, mature, as Electra is."

"I think Sirius saw things that, thankfully, none of us could ever imagine. James knows some aspects of Sirius's childhood that he won't tell me, and I also suspect that there are things James doesn't know. From what I do know about the Black family, and the way they treat their heirs as opposed to everyone else, the sons as opposed to the daughters, I have my suspicions that Electra faced things that even Sirius couldn't have imagined." Lily responded.

"Lily, I don't understand. How could anyone treat their child like that? That – that mistrust and brokenness in her eyes. She's too young for that. Sirius – Sirius needs love, even still. I can't help but wonder. Is his childhood why he adopted Romulus?"

"Nash. I'm going to ask you something, and I'm asking for your forgiveness in advance."

"Lily, I know we only became friends because of our husbands, but we've been friends for a long time and you don't need to ask permission to or forgiveness for anything you ask me."

"Yes, Romulus, I'm really only 18. Why?" Elle replies. It had been so long since Rom had asked the question that he thought she was ignoring him.

"You just seem older. Genevieve's 18 and she still acts like a teenager. You're 18 and you seem to fit in with the adults better. Dad even lets you drink wine and Firewhiskey. Remus and Nash don't let Gen drink wine, right, Remus?"

"I've never really around other people my age, save for at school. The students in my circle at Durmstrang were also raised to be tiny adults. Romulus, Sirius is my father's brother. He knows how my father was raised, so he can extrapolate how I was raised from that. I would have given anything to have grown up here, where it's warm and accepting, surrounded by people who are kind and loving."

"Remus, this is ridiculous. She has a circle. Why is she even here? She's not one of us." The exasperation in his voice is evident, and the disdain in his eyes cuts right through Elle. "Even her name is ridiculous."

Remus glanced over at Elle, trying to gauge her reaction. Her grey eyes are steely, cold. Her mouth is set. She looks, he notes, exactly as Sirius looked when Remus told him that Nash was pregnant.

"If you'll excuse me," she says, standing and turning on her heel.

"Romulus, what the hell was that?" Remus asks in his calm, quiet voice.

"She's not one of us. She shouldn't be here. Is this how it works now? A random girl shows up in the middle of the night and dad just gives her a bedroom and she's apparently living here now? Dad didn't even know she existed! He knows nothing about her!"

"That's exactly what your father does, Rom. He takes in the people who need it, and you should know that better than any of the rest of us. Now, I would advise you not to yell at Electra anymore today. I know that you're not in the best state mentally, and I doubt Elle is, either. When your father comes home, I don't want to have to tell him that you two fought all day."

Elle, sweet little Elle, who had the pain of one hundred years in those young grey eyes. Elle, whose voice grew frighteningly cold whenever her family was mentioned. Elle showing up had stirred up a lot of emotions in Sirius, emotions that had been buried for years, strong-armed by the love of his friends (his chosen family).

Elle deserved the world. Elle deserved so much more than Sirius could give her. Elle deserved to be a normal 18 year old girl, to have friends who were friends because they genuinely liked her and not because they wanted to get close to her family. Sirius knew that, regardless of how hard he tried, he would never be able to give her that. That was exactly what made selecting a Christmas gift so difficult: He knew that what Electra deserved, what she likely wanted, was intangible.

Elle had stirred up emotions in Sirius that he hadn't felt in years. The pain of being disowned by his family had been widely suppressed by the love of his friends – the family that he chose for himself. He knew that Elle being here had even brought up memories and emotions in those friends – most notably in Remus.

 _After Remus had Healed Elle that night and she went to bed, Remus had stayed. They had a glass of Firewhisky, followed by another and then one more for good measure. The emotions of the last few hours, the alcohol, and the mere few hours of sleep that they were both running on had done things to the two men. Sitting on the sofa in the living room, Sirius had been perhaps physically closer to Remus than he usually allowed himself to be. The two men sat with their thighs pressing against each other, Sirius draping an arm over Remus's shoulder. As Sirius began droning on about the magic behind the branded motto, Remus recognized that Sirius needed a reason to stop talking. Remus could give him that reason. He leaned in, closing the already minimal distance between them. He put his lips on Sirius's, and Sirius immediately responded. The hand that had been lazily draped around Remus slid to his neck, cradling it gently. The other hand found a place to set down his empty glass before ending up on Remus's thigh._

 _It was the first kiss that the two men had shared since the night before Genevieve's birth, and it was wonderful. It had started out so gentle, but it grew into something more intense until Sirius pulled away, both of them breathing heavily. "Remus, I,"_

 _"_ _No, Sirius. Don't. You don't need to say anything. I should, I should write Nash and tell her where I went."_

 _"_ _Tell her and the kids to come for breakfast. I'll Floo over to the Potters and convince them to come over."_

"Sir, can I help you find anything?" The young store clerk asked Sirius, drawing him from his reverie. He looked at her, seeing a young woman who seemed to be around the same age as Elle and Gen.

"Uh, yes, actually. I need clothes for an 18-year-old woman. Can you help me with that?" He asks. "Loads of them, including shoes. Money isn't an object."

"Lily, just ask me whatever it was you wanted to ask." Nash says. Her smile should be reassuring, but Lily can't bring herself to shatter Nash's image of her wonderful, loving, faithful husband.


	10. Chapter 10

_"_ _He disappeared because I am not marrying a man who thinks that my body is his to do as he pleases with!" Electra shouted at her mother. She had put on a good face for her entire life. Sure, it had slipped once, when she was eleven. She went to Hogwarts, was sorted into Gryffindor, and was pulled out the next day and sent to Durmstrang Academy instead._

 _"_ _You will marry the man that your father and I choose for you. He would have been an excellent match for you. You would have made a very attractive and a very powerful couple. Now your father has to offer you to his_ brother _, and I can guarantee that no one will be happy with that match."_

 _Electra was dressed for the dinner party that her parents were hosting, as were her parents and brother. The four of them stood in the kitchen, "strategizing," although they were really just shouting at one another. Everyone had expected to finally meet her fiancé, as the party was only two days before her Christmas wedding. Her parents didn't know what had happened to the man, but they [correctly] assumed that she had something to do with the fact that no one had seen or heard from him in several months._

 _"_ _And he was so similar to your father," her mother continued in her excruciatingly condescending voice._

 _"_ _Exactly! That was the problem, Mother, he was like_ Father _," Electra responded, her voice dripping with disdain. "Father, who climbed into my bed every night while you ignored it! Father, who uses the Cruciatus curse on us for fun! Father, who impregnated you when you were fifteen!" Her anger growing, she trained her wand on her father. Cruciatus would certainly have a poetic justice to it, but it was also too common. Thinking fast, she remembered a horrid curse that she had recently learned._

"Elle, love, you're lightyears away," Remus said quietly, sitting next to her on the sofa.

"I suppose I was. I'm hoping that getting lost in thought doesn't happen as often in the future."

"Sirius still gets lost in thought more than the rest of us, but it doesn't happen nearly as often as it used to."

"You and Sirius. What's going on there? The way you two look at each other. The kiss the night that I arrived here." As she said that, Remus, who was unfortunately taking a long drink of coffee, spit it all over her. Elle continued as if she hadn't even noticed. "What you were apparently talking about this morning."

"You saw the kiss? We thought you had went to bed."

"I did, but then I remembered that I left my wand down here. I never sleep without it. You must have been very focused on Sirius if your werewolf ears didn't hear me come down the stairs."

"Elle, listen. Nash – she has no idea. She has no idea that Sirius and I were together. She has no idea that I love Sirius in a way very similar to how I love her. It would break her heart, it would change everything for the children. We haven't so much as hugged since Genevieve was born. I love Nash, I do. She's wonderful. She's beautiful and loving and steady and she is my everything."

"You don't have to explain anything to me, Remus." She made eye contact, trying to express so many thoughts and emotions. That one look was an attempt to tell him that she understood loving someone that you shouldn't love, that she understood having a relationship that she couldn't tell anyone about.

"Elle, I'll let you go get ready to have lunch with Lily, Nash, Gen, and Petunia, but there's something else you need to know. It's not just Nash who has no idea. Sirius has a new boyfriend. A muggle. Sirius is already keeping so many secrets from him – one more might put this relationship over the edge. His boyfriend can never know that I'm anything other than an old friend: An old, happily married friend who fathered three of Sirius's godchildren. "

"Remus, you have my word. Not a word of this will be spoken to anyone. I understand the need for utmost discretion."

After her conversation with Remus, Elle had gone upstairs to what was now her bedroom. As she dug through her clothes for the least uncomfortable option and pulled the pins out of her hair, allowing her curls to cascade wildly down her back, she thought of how incredible it felt to be casual, accepted, possibly even loved. She remembered the bag that Genevieve had brought, opening it to find another pair of jeans and a thick, hand-knit black jumper. She pulled them on, along with a pair of high-heeled black boots that she had brought with her. When she looked in the mirror, she was shocked. She hardly even looked like herself – at least not like the version of herself that she was used to seeing. She was comfortable, pretty, even happy. She suddenly thought of the small box that she kept hidden in her trunk. The box that, with its magical expansion, held most of her happy memories. Of course, it didn't have to be expanded much to hold the few happy memories she had. Elle opened the box, pulling out a small locket, an antique ring, and a wine cork. Slipping the cork in her bra, she shut the box and put in back in the bottom of her trunk before giving her curls one final fluff and going downstairs.

"Electra, darling, you look wonderful!" Lily exclaimed, offering Elle a warm hug. Elle was hardly out of the fire before being greeted by Lily and Nash. Within minutes, she was sitting at Lily's table with a mug of tea and a plate of biscuits. Gen was telling her about the attractive boys that she knew at Hogwarts and little Petunia was clinging on to every word. After a few minutes of this, Elle had stopped paying attention. She was in her own world, thinking about her own life, her own relationships, her own family.

"Electra? Are you okay?" Petunia asked, snuggling up next to Elle. Elle nodded, but didn't say anything. She didn't trust herself not to cry if she did speak.

"Elle, darling. Uh, Remus told me that he was calling you Elle. Is that okay?" Nash asked. It was easy to see why Remus and Nash were together. They were both so loving, calming, so parental. "Sweetheart, is everything okay? You're crying." Embarrassed, Elle wipes away the tears with the back of her hand.

"And here I thought if I didn't speak, I wouldn't cry," she said with a wry chuckle. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to ruin the day with tears. I can just go."

"NO!" Gen shouts, reaching across the table and putting a hand on Elle's arm. "You can leave if you want, but we don't want you to. You're allowed to cry. In fact, it's expected. Ellie, your life was just turned on its head." As Gen said this, an owl taps on the window. Lily stood, walking over to the window and taking the scroll from the small owl.

"Ms. Electra Black," Lily says. "It's for you."

"Remus," Romulus said. "I never should have said those things to Electra. You're right, taking in unwanted people is exactly what my dad does. I don't even remember why my parents didn't want me, but I know that Sirius did want me."

"Rom, I think Elle probably understands why you said those things. You and I, Sirius, we've all been through hell. That makes us understand one another better than we perhaps would otherwise. I get the sense that Elle is the same. You might consider apologizing to her, though. If you think the moon had anything to do with the way you acting, you may consider telling her – but _only_ if you feel the moon influenced your actions."

"It didn't. I was jealous. I saw how easily Dad accepted her, how immediately he loved her."

"Rom, he was the same way with you. As soon as he set eyes on you, as soon as he knew that you needed a family, he was in love with you. In fact, I think he loved you before he ever even saw you. It's his thing. You have no need to be jealous of Elle."

"What if she hates me forever now? I don't want that. It seems like maybe she needs a little less hate in her life." Rom asked, sounding distressed. As he asked that, Sirius Flooed in and there was a knock on the front door.

"That's Matt that's Matt that's Matt hide the magic!" Sirius shrieked, hugging Romulus and waving his wand at the packages he was carrying, sending them upstairs. As he did this, Remus laughed at opened the front door. Suddenly, the laughter stopped.

"Sirius. It's – It's not Matt." He called, in a dead voice. Sirius came half-running out of the kitchen, only to see Remus holding the door open and Regulus standing in the doorway.


	11. Chapter 11

"Where the bloody hell are you keeping my daughter?" Regulus asks Sirius in a deadly, quiet voice. Sirius knew immediately how angry Regulus had to be to both show up on his door and not shout.

"Oh, you have a daughter? How lovely! I do hope she turned out better than you. Of course, I'm not quite sure what you mean by where am I keeping her. I was unaware that you even had a daughter, so how would I be hiding her from you?" Sirius responds, crossing his arms and firming his stance. He knows that this could get ugly, and he wants to be prepared. He is also attempting to send Remus mental messages, to keep Romulus out of the potential line of fire and to send Elle back to the Potter's immediately if she came home. All he could hope was that the connection that they once had was still as strong.

"Where else would she have gone?! You ran away to our wayward uncle, why shouldn't she have done the same?!" Regulus said, yelling now.

"Well, I hardly doubt that you talk about me often. Even if she did want to come here, how would she have known where to find me? Besides, you're mistaken. I ran away to Remus and James. Elle's probably staying with a friend. Unless, of course, sending her to Durmstrang means she doesn't have those." Damn it. As soon as he said it, he realizd his mistakes. If Elle hadn't shown up, he wouldn't have known her name or that she attended Durmstrang. He knew that Regulus is too intelligent for Sirius to be able to step back and explain away the knowledge that he shouldn't have.

"Until I knocked on that door, you knew neither that I had a daughter, nor that she is named Electra and attends Durmstrang. You are clearly harboring her. You're the logical choice." Regulus's voice was frighteningly cool again, and Sirius desperately wished that he hadn't assumed that the knock on the door was his muggle boyfriend, thus leaving his wand in the kitchen.

"Regulus, you're my brother. I wouldn't lie to you. She's not here," Sirius said. He technically was telling the truth – Elle _wasn't_ there, at least not right then. "Come in and see for yourself," he offered further, opening the door all the way and ushering his brother inside. Regulus rather limped in, and Sirius knew that he was in intense pain. He only wished he knew where the pain was so that he could take advantage if necessary.

Remus knocked on the door of the Potter house rapidly, fervently, harshly. Nash immediately recognized her husband's panicked knock and flew to the front door. "Darling, what's going on?" She asked as she opened it, allowing her husband to enter.

"Where's Elle?" He demanded, looking around wildly.

"Dear, she and Gen went back ours to talk about boys and play with clothes and makeup and do girl things. Why?" Nash's voice was calm and quiet to Remus's frenzied and frantic voice.

"She needs to stay there. Regulus is looking for her, and I quite suspect that he's ready and willing to kill her if he finds her. Sirius doesn't know I left, I imagine he thinks I'm protecting Romulus. I snuck out the back and apparated here as soon as I realized who the visitor was."

"You get on back to Sirius's. I'll Floo home and make sure that Electra stays there." Nash says, offering Remus a quick kiss.

"And I'll send James. He's out in the garden with Harry, Merlin only knows what the two of them are up to," Lily says. Remus hadn't even noticed her before, but her serious expression combined with the offer to send James told Remus that she had heard and knew exactly what was happening. "Remus, go," Lily said, giving him a little push towards the door. With that, he turned on his heel, saw himself out, and disapparated with a small pop, totally unconcerned with whether any muggles saw him or not.

Shortly after returning to Sirius's home, James also appeared. "Lily told me that Regulus is here?" He whispered in Remus's ear, the two men half-hugging so that they could speak privately. Remus nodded wordlessly. The fact that they couldn't hear either of the brothers screaming was vaguely disconcerting, as each was usually very loud and silence was never a good sign.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU WANT TO OFFER HER TO ME? DO YOU THINK THAT SHE WANTS TO MARRY HER OLD UNCLE? DO YOU THINK THAT I WANT TO MARRY MY _NIECE?"_ They suddenly heard Sirius shout.

"I probably shouldn't be surprised that they wanted to keep the old Black family bloodline alive and well, but I'd think they'd want to do that with someone who isn't a half-blood-werewolf-loving-Gryffindor-homosexual-blood-traitor," James mutters to Remus. Remus turns to James, shock in his eyes. "What, you think Pete and I never knew? You two shagged for almost a year," he responded with a shrug. "Besides, Sirius lived with my family. We were practically brothers. He told me – multiple times, and with far greater detail than I never needed to know, Mr. Eleven Inches."

"Can we get back to the matter at hand, please?" Remus muttered, utterly shocked and embarrassed. "Sirius is the purest male Black left, even if he is a half-blood-werewolf-loving-Gryffindor-homosexual-blood-traitor. The only other option would be for Regulus to marry Electra."

"I wouldn't put that past them, Remmy," James said with disgust.

"Regulus did try to procreate with her," Romulus said quietly. He was staring at Remus with intrigue, both men having forgotten he was there.

"What? Rom, how do you know?" Remus asked, sitting at the kitchen table and demurely placing his hands in his lap, covering where both Romulus and James were now staring.

"She told me," he said, matter-of-factly. "Last night. I could hear her tossing and turning and whimpering so I went in to see if she was okay. She woke up as soon as I opened the door. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me."

Before either James or Remus could respond, there was another knock on the front door. "You're the only pure-blood, James, you'd better get it. Regulus doesn't need to see either one of us half-blood werewolves right now."

"And what exactly am I supposed to say if it's Matt? Sorry, you can't come in, Siri's niece, whom he never knew existed, was disowned from her horridly abusive family and showed up at his door and know her deranged father, Siri's younger brother, is here screaming because he knows that his daughter is going to tell her uncle all about the horrendous things he did to her?"

"You're smart, you'll think of something," Romulus said, patting James on the shoulder as he hopped off of his chair and walked over to the tea kettle.

"I WILL KILL YOU IF I FIND OUT THAT YOU HAVE BEEN CORRESPONDING WITH MY DAUGHTER," the three hear. Forgetting about the knock on the door that was most likely Sirius's muggle boyfriend, James grabs his wand and practically flies out of the kitchen and into the living room. He's pointing his wand at Regulus, who's pointing his wand at Sirius, who has his hands in the air and is staring apologetically at Matt (who had apparently come bursting through the front door at the sound of the death threat).

James, ever the calm one, lowers his wand. "Regulus, I quite think that's enough. Your daughter is not currently here, and murdering your brother will not fix the familial dysfunction. Go home." Regulus looks startled by the sight of the head auror standing next to Sirius. He turns on his heel and, as best he can with his apparent injury (damn it, Sirius still wants to know what happened), storms out of the house. "You okay, Sear?" Sirius nods.

"What the hell was that?" Matt asks, shell-shocked.

"Perhaps you should come sit down, have a cup of tea. Re, one cup of tea with extra brandy, please." James requests, leading Matt and Sirius into the large kitchen.


	12. Chapter 12

After several hours (and lots of "tea" with brandy), Matt was still a bit shocked. Understandably, if you asked Elle – she was still in shock by something as simple as a loving family, and she didn't have to adjust to her boyfriend being a wizard who attended a magical school, was disowned from a murderous family, and later adopted a werewolf. By this point, most of the questioning had subsided. Remus and Romulus, now transformed into sweet and cozy wolves, were curled up by the fire at the Lupin house, and Sirius was sitting in the kitchen with Elle and Matt. At this point, they weren't even pretending to drink tea – Matt was drinking straight brandy, Sirius firewhisky, and Elle was well into a bottle of excellent red wine.

"Can you explain just one more thing to me?" Matt asked. He was surprisingly far less drunk than he should be, and Elle and Sirius both nodded.

"How did you not know you had a niece? And how did you know where to find this uncle you've never met?"

Sirius and Elle exchanged glances, and Sirius nodded at Elle gently. She picked up her wine glass, swirled the contents once, and then set it back down. "It's easy how he didn't know. My parents never told him. I knew where to find him because, well, my parents were planning to offer him my hand in marriage. I put on my obedient daughter face and asked at what address I might owl him. Then one too many male family members touched me and what was supposed to be my wedding dinner, I snapped, I cursed my father, I got blasted off of the family tree tapestry, and I showed up here."

"You were going to _marry her?_ " Matt asks, turning chalk white.

"I assure you, I had no idea that this plan existed, and I would have had no intention of marrying her had I known," Sirius pleads, covering one of Matt's hands with his own. "Our family believes in keeping the lineage as pure as possible. There's really an inordinate amount of inbreeding that happens."

"I believe that my mother is also my aunt and cousin, and Sirius is both my brother and my uncle," Elle explains pointedly. "He may also be my grandfather and/or great-aunt-thrice-removed. One can never be certain with our family." At that, Matt laughs so hard that he actually falls off of his chair, breaking the tension that the trio didn't even realize was still lingering. As that tension breaks, Sirius lazily flicks his wand a few times, relieved to be able to magic in front of the man he (thinks he) loves. The wireless turns on, all three glasses refill themselves with the drinker's beverage of choice, the overhead lights go off, and the Christmas lights brighten just a tad.

"We're all going to be hungover in the morning, aren't we," Matt says rather than asks. Sirius and Elle exchange looks again, laughing.

"Blacks – at least the ones who are to be excommunicated in the future – learn very young to drink copiously to survive any family event. A half-bottle of firewhisky was normal for me before I started Hogwarts at 11. You might be hungover, but Elle and I will feel, well, normal," Sirius says through his giggles. The three sit together, drinking some more and talking about anything that comes to mind. The juxtaposition between Elle's youth and her gravity strikes Sirius. She's so young – only eighteen – and yet she sits drinking wine and conversing with men nearly twice her age, and seems more comfortable being treated as an adult equal than as a child. He wonders briefly if that's what he was like as a young(er) man.

"You wonder if _what's_ what you were like?" Matt asks. Sirius hadn't even realized he was speaking out loud.

"Oh, Ellie. I was wondering if I was as serious as Ellie when I was her age," he responds.

"You're always Sirius," Matt jokes. Elle laughs, and Sirius thinks that she's probably never looked so beautiful or carefree as she does in that moment (of course, he reminds himself, he thinks that in the way that a concerned uncle would, and not a potential husband).

"Name puns. How clever," Sirius tells him with a smile, leaning in to kiss him.

"Oh! This is one of my favorite songs to dance to!" Elle jumps up as "Baby, It's Cold Outside" begins playing on the wireless. "Dance with me, Sirius!" Sirius steals a glance at Matt, asking permission. He doesn't want to scare off his boyfriend completely, and he's concerned that dancing with his niece not an hour after Matt learns that his brother wanted to offer his niece to him as a wife might do exactly that. Matt grants permission, telling his boyfriend that, not only does he have two left feet, but he's also currently too intoxicated to even be led properly.

"James," Lily whispers, rolling over and poking her sleeping husband. "James, are you sleeping?" James groans, his eyes flutter open, and the arm that's not under Lily reaches above his head and stretches. "James, what happened to Sirius?"

"What do you mean? Sirius is fine," James mumbles in response.

"No, James, I mean _what happened_ to Sirius. When he was young. With his family."

"Oh, Lily," James says, fully awake now. "I don't even know where to start."

"Well, what actually got him kicked out? We can work backwards."

"Lil, love, you know that Sirius loves Remus, right?"

"Right, but what does that have to do with anything?"

James begins regaling Lily with everything he knows about Sirius's story, beginning with Sirius being disowned after announcing that he was desperately in love with a half-blood werewolf (the fact that he was gay was _not_ the worst thing he announced that night), his father using the Cruciatus curse, his mother's severe physical abuse. He tells Lily the story the summer holidays after Sirius's first year – the first time he saw his parents after being sorted into Gryffindor. He tells Lily of the curses constantly flung at the twelve-year-old boy, of Sirius being locked in the family tapestry room for days on end with no food, of his mother teaching his little brother why Sirius was evil and that Regulus should minimize his interactions with his older brother so as to not be corrupted by his _Gryffindor ideals_. He tells Lily of the Christmas holidays that Sirius spent with James and his family, of Sirius actually crying when Mrs. Potter gave him a hand-made Gryffindor quilt and fudge and Mr. Potter gave him a signed copy of a book on his favorite Quidditch player and called him Son.

When James finally finishes the story – or at least the parts of the story he knows – Lily is crying too much to speak. After a few moments, she composes herself enough to ask her husband if he thinks that's what Elle's life was like, as well.

"No, love. No, I think Elle's life was worse. She was sent to Durmstrang, she didn't have the Gryffindor common room to escape to, and she was a _girl_. Her sole purpose in life, according to her family, would be to marry well and raise her children to understand the importance of blood purity and to demand the respect that their name requires."

"You think there was more than just physical abuse?" Lily asks. James, biting his lip and looking away, nods.

"Yes, Lily, I think Elle was subjected to more than just being hit or starved."

"How's Sirius handling this?"

"Angry. I think he was always hoping that maybe Regulus would turn out okay. A bit guilty that he didn't find a way to discover his niece and check in on her. A bit relieved that she got out alive and came to him. And sad. But then, he's always sad."

"He should see a psychologist," Lily announces, rolling out of bed, stepping into her slippers, and pulling on her housecoat. "I'm going to start breakfast." She leans down to gently kiss her husband.

"Oh, and Lil? One more thing." James tells her as she starts towards the door. She turns around, giving him a questioning look. "Sirius and a muggle psychologist is just a recipe for disaster."

"Something smells delightful," Sirius half-sings as he makes his way into the kitchen. He woke up to the smell of coffee and cinnamon rolls and an empty bed, and decided he needed to find out what his boyfriend, niece, and son were doing.

"Did you know that Ellie learned to cook even though she had one of those home-dwarf thingies?" Matt asks excitedly. He's not nearly as hungover as Sirius expected him to be, and Sirius briefly wonders exactly how much coffee and water Elle has funneled into the man.

"She had a what?" He asks, fetching a clean mug from the cabinet and pouring himself a coffee.

"A house-elf, Matt, not a home-dwarf." Elle gently corrects, stifling a giggle.

"That makes more sense. Rommy, how was your night?"

"It was fine," Romulus replies, stretching. "Sleeping by the fire was nice. I think Gen meant to be petting Remus, but she scratched my ears for a long time."

"Achy?" Sirius asks. Rom thinks for a moment, then nods slightly.

"The transformation achiness isn't as bad as the attacking yourself because there's no one else to attack achiness, but it still aches."

The four sit in silence – Matt nursing his hangover, Romulus ignoring his aching bones, Elle fighting the tears that have been threatening to spill since she left home, and Sirius debating whether to tell his niece that Regulus had paid a visit.

"Elle, these really are delicious. Can you stay forever so Dad never has to cook again?" Romulus asks, helping himself to his seventh cinnamon roll. Matt laughs, agreeing with Rom's feelings towards Sirius's cooking abilities. The rest of breakfast proceeds this way – light conversation, lots of laughter, and everyone eating far too much.

"Elle," Sirius said softly, clearing his throat. His niece looked out of place, sitting in his most comfortable armchair, reading a book on werewolf legislation that she must have grabbed from his library, wearing a fitted black dress and black lace stockings. "May I join you?" He's holding two steaming mugs of tea, a book tucked under his arm. Elle marks her place with a finger, looks up at Sirius, and nods slowly. "Werewolf Regulation from 1683-1702?"

"I randomly grabbed at a book in the library. You sound surprised that I'm reading it, and yet you own it?"

"Ellie, I lobby for werewolf rights. Of course I have it," he replies with a soft smile. He offers his niece one of the teas before collapsing on the sofa and opening his book, a Muggle book on leather fashion. The two sat in comfortable silence and read.

"Sirius, can I ask you something?" Elle asks after some time. Sirius, in a very similar move to Elle's earlier one, marks his place with a finger, looks at his niece, and nods slowly. "Why was my dad here yesterday? Matt was telling me about your lovely visitor this morning, before you and Romulus joined us."

"Sweetheart, I don't want you to worry about him. Yes, he was here, and yes, everything is fine."

"Sirius, everything is not fine. The things I did to him before I left – if he finds out you're hiding me, he'll kill you."

"Love, I can take my little brother. I'm not going to let him hurt you again."

"What do you mean again? What makes you think he's hurt me before?"

"You shout, 'don't touch me,' in your sleep. You flinch when someone tries to touch you. I've a strong feeling you used a castration curse on him. Ellie, he's my brother. I grew up with him, with our father. I know his tricks, and I know that you can take care of yourself, but I'm also not going to let him hurt you." Sirius finishes his mini-speech, and Elle flings herself at him, unable to hold back her tears anymore. Sirius moves over so he's not in the middle of the sofa and Elle can sit next to him. She curls up, making herself as small as she can, and cries into his shoulder as he strokes her hair.

It's in this position that James finds the two Blacks nearly two hours later – Ellie still crying and Sirius still soothing her.


	13. Chapter 13

By bedtime on Christmas Eve, Elle has cried out most of her feelings about her family. She's been sobbing off and on all day – cuddling with Sirius, cuddling with Matt, cuddling with Remus, and cuddling with Genevieve. Finally, with a mug of steaming tea in one hand and a quill in the other, she begins to write a reply to her most recent owl.

 _J,_

 _I'm fine. As I said in my last owl, I've gotten away from my parents. I'm staying with a long-lost uncle for the time being, and I'm safe and – dare I say it – even loved and cared for here. I miss you and I love you._

 _Happy Christmas, I'll give you your gift the next time we're safely together._

 _All my love,_

 _E_

Elle writes the letter to her partner, knowing that there's so much more to say that she doesn't want to put in a letter. She seals the letter with magic, tying it to the leg of her owl and wishing him luck. She plucks the wine cork from her nightstand – the wine cork that, until just a few days earlier, held all of the love she ever received.

 _"_ _E, I can't believe you vanished your betrothed!" Jesse had managed to mutter through giggles, struggling with the muggle corkscrew and brushing lips against Electra's cheek._

 _"_ _Give me the damn bottle, Jess," Electra had muttered through her own laughter. "If there's anything I've learned from my parents, it's how to open a bottle of wine." Jesse begrudgingly hands over the wine bottle, watching the gorgeous woman uncork the wine with ease and, with the practised grace of her aristocratic upbringing, pour the red liquid into the two crystal goblets sitting in front of her._

 _"_ _Electra," Jesse starts, unsure of what words are coming next. "Electra, why don't you ever dress more comfortably? More, well, you?"_

 _"_ _Love, I haven't got anything more comfortable. Every summer, I try to stock my wardrobe with jeans and warm jumpers and shoes that aren't sky-high, and every summer my mother finds them all and burns them."_

 _"_ _Okay, that's not what I had planned on saying."_

 _"_ _Really?" Electra responds, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Jesse knows that sarcasm is both Electra's shield and the way she shows her love._

 _"_ _Electra, darling. I love you," Jesse starts, getting down on one knee. "Don't worry, love, I'm not proposing. I just – I want you to know that I love you for you and not because you have a famous name and a ridiculous amount of money and power. I'd be honoured if you would agree to be my girlfriend." Jesse looks around the room frantically, eyes falling upon the discarded wine cork and lighting up. "Accept this as a token of my affection, and never forget that you are wonderful and you are deserving of love and happiness." Accepting the cork from Jesse's hand, Electra kneels before the person in front of her and nods, crying freely. Jesse cradles Electra's face with warm hands, before leaning in and kissing Electra's tears away."_

Elle falls asleep thinking of the person she loves, the person who loves her. When she wakes up the next morning, it's to the sound of shouting. Recognizing voices, she pulls herself out of bed and grabs her black silk dressing gown. She slips it over her black nightgown, pulls her long curls over one shoulder, and braves a glance in the mirror. Her hair is messy, her mascara and eyeliner are smudged under her eyes, and fear coursing through her veins are tinging her cheeks pink.

"I told you that if I discovered you where hoarding my daughter that I would find out and I would kill you!" Regulus shrieked at his older brother, sounding frighteningly like their mother. Sirius wasn't overly worried yet, well aware that Regulus would be deathly quiet if he were actually about to kill Sirius.

"Reg. Sit. Let's talk about this like adults. Perhaps Cassiopeia can come and you two can join Matt and I for a cup of tea."

"And here I thought you'd always be shagging that werewolf. Cassiopeia will not be joining us. You and I will not be sitting down to tea. You. Are. Dead."

"Reg, I've been dead to you for nearly twenty years." Sirius opens his mouth as if to continue, but his head turns rapidly when he hears footsteps entering the room from behind him.

"Ah, Electra. Come give your father a kiss," Regulus croons, smiling a smile that doesn't quite meet his eyes. When Elle crosses her arms over her chest and refuses to move, Regulus flicks his wand at her and then repeats his demand. Electra responds almost robotically, dropping her arms to her side and mechanically stepping across the room. One she's standing in front of her father, he gently cradles her face in his hands and presses his lips to hers. Sirius makes a pained noise, and Matt carefully puts a hand on his boyfriend's arm.

"Get Romulus. Tell him to Floo Remus and James." Sirius whispers in Matt's ear. "Regulus, take that curse off of her and let her go."

"Sirius, you dare tell me what to do. You're not the heir anymore, you have no control over me. Try not to push it, or I'll have Electra do my killing for me."

"Matt, _now_ , please." At the sound of the threat, Matt runs out of the room and up to Romulus's room.

"Turn around and face your uncle, Electra." Regulus orders. Electra obeys, and Regulus pushes her dressing gown and the strap of her nightgown off of one shoulder. "Look at her, Sear. Isn't she sexy?" For a moment, a look of fear flickers across her otherwise expressionless face, and Sirius thinks that he can quite literally feel his heart breaking.

"Reg, don't do this to her. Don't you remember all of the times mum and dad did this to us? Tortured us, forced us to do things, brainwashed us? Don't you remember how horrid it was?" Sirius's voice is gentle, his wand stretched towards Regulus. Regulus, of course, is smart. He knows that Sirius could hex him and break the curse that Regulus has over Electra, so he keeps Electra far too close to him. Even with Sirius's fantastic aim, he won't risk hitting his niece instead. "Of course, this is lovely. I always wanted to spend another Christmas morning with my dear younger brother. Never mind that it's half-three in the morning and I've been long disinherited, it's still Christmas morning and I'm still your brother. Isn't this wonderful? Your daughter and my son, finally getting to know one another. You've met Matt, my wonderful boyfriend? He'll be back soon, he's just gone to fetch some more friends for us to spend the holiday with." Sirius continues his stream of consciousness monologue, attempting to distract his brother and weaken the Imperius hold he has on Elle. "I'd, of course, like to know how you found out that she's actually here, since I know that you were just assuming her presence last time."

"Well, I received this lovely note from a young man called Jesse, telling me that Electra was staying with a long-lost uncle. I couldn't imagine Andromeda and that stupid mudblood housing her and not telling me, so that left you. I'm eternally grateful to him, of course, for informing me of my daughter's whereabouts."

Something about that statement gives Elle the strength to break her father's curse over her. "They're not a he!" She shouts, and then Sirius watches as emotions play across her lovely face and she eventually dissolves into anger and tears. Her legs unable to support her anymore, she crumples to the ground. Remus, who was lurking in the doorway with James, is across the room and catching Elle in the blink of an eye while James performs several intricate wand movements, disarming and tying Regulus and temporarily blocking Elle's mind from further Imperial control. Sirius stands in stunned silence, his wand falling to the ground, grateful for the presence of his friends.

"I'm going to Floo the office and have someone come round and help me collect this git. I know he's your brother, but I've just watched him perform an unforgiveable. Don't let him escape," James tells Sirius, gently pressing his wand back into his hand.

An hour later, Sirius, Matt, and Elle are sitting in the kitchen in silence, an untouched cup of coffee in front of each. Elle hasn't said a word since the outburst that saved her from Imperial mind control, and is now wrapped in a handmade quilt that Mrs. Potter gave Sirius for Christmas one year and is shivering slightly. The occasional tear falls, but the men suspect that she doesn't realize it. Romulus went back to bed after the fiasco with Regulus, still exhausted from his transition to and from a werewolf.

"Ellie," Sirius begins, but can't bring himself to continue. It's clear that whatever happened broke her heart, and he too vividly remembers the night that Remus told him that Nash was pregnant.

 _"_ _Sear," Remus said, moaning into the pureblood heir's mouth. "Sear, I really have to tell you something." Sirius's hands are working the buttons on the werewolf's trousers, but something in Remus's tone makes him stop._

 _"_ _If you're going to tell me I'm lovely and a wonderful shag, I already know," Sirius mutters. He has a feelings that this is most definitely_ not _what Remus was going to tell him. He sits up, leaning back on his heels and biting his lip. He_ is _lovely, Remus notes, with his clear glossed lips and the kohl smudged around his eyes._

 _"_ _That's not what I was going to say, love," Remus says, refusing to meet Sirius's eyes. "Sirius. Sear, can we stop for a minute?" Remus pulls his legs away from Sirius, crossing them and re-adjusting the zipper on his trousers. "Sear, you know I love you."_

 _"_ _I know you love shagging me," Sirius responds bitterly._

 _"_ _Sirius, you're my best friend. But."_

 _"_ _But. But you're not into blokes. You don't want anyone to know you're shagging your best mate. You can't bear to tell your mother that you know a pureblood elitist in the biblical sense."_

 _"_ But _, Nash Williams is pregnant."_

 _"_ _What does that have to do with us?" Sirius asked. Suddenly, his eyes grow wide and he forces Remus to make eye contact. "Remus. Are you the father?" Remus closes his eyes and nods, unwilling to see the look in his best friend's eyes. He feels the weight shift on the mattress, but he doesn't open his eyes until he hears the dormitory door slam._

"Ellie, I don't know who this Jesse is or what they did, but you can tell us about it if you'd like," Matt tells her, noting the looks on both of their faces. At first, it appears as if Ellie hasn't even heard.

"They were supposed to love me. They told me they loved me and they didn't care about my family," Ellie mutters. "Apparently they were lying."


	14. Chapter 14

"You know, I've known all along that Remus and Sirius are madly in love," Nash tells Lily. The pair are sat in the Lupin kitchen, sipping tea and chatting. Lily chokes on her tea, not expecting Nash to say this.

"What do you _mean_ you've known all along?" Lily sputters.

"Well, if I hadn't known before I was pregnant, I certainly did within a week of telling Remus," Nash replies. She's calmly sipping her tea, reminiscing on that conversation with Remus. "You know, I wasn't even sure that Remus was Gen's father until Gen was about three and we realized that she was his absolute spit."

"Nash, who else could have been her father?"

"Oh, no one important. Peter. Regulus. Amongst others."

Of course, through this conversation, neither of the women realized that Remus was standing in the door between the kitchen and the lounge.


	15. Chapter 15

"Daddy, tell me more about what Sirius was like when he was 18," Genevieve asks Remus. Hearing his sweet little girl call him daddy cuts through him like a knife, and he swallows the lump in his throat – the lump the size of nineteen years of emotions. Images of the love of his teenage years start dancing through his mind: Sirius in leggings and a leather jacket; Sirius yanking a black t-shirt over his head to show off the tattoo of _canis major_ and a full moon overlooking a large dog, a wolf, a stag, and a rat; Sirius determinedly not crying when he shows up round James's with a black eye and a broken spirit; Sirius always seeming to be in motion, even when he was sitting still, Sirius announcing that werewolf regulations were stupid and he was going to go into law to change them.

Of course, these aren't the stories that Gen wants to hear. Gen wants to know if he was as emotionally volatile as Elle appears to be, if he was as dramatic, if he was as broken. She's grown very attached to Elle, as they all have, and she needs to know that Elle is going to survive this.

"Sirius was beautiful, and dramatic, and very clever at hiding what he was thinking. Most days, none of us knew when something was bothering him until we learned to watch his hands very closely. He was – he was guilt-ridden, for leaving Regulus behind. He would go from laughing and joking to sobbing and throwing things faster than you could blink, and then his rage would work itself through his body and he would carry on laughing and joking like that little interlude had never happened. I see a lot of teenaged Sirius in Elle, love, and I have all the confidence in the world that she'll turn out just fine. We just have to love her," Remus told his daughter.

"James and Sirius hug and kiss each other goodbye and throw their arms around each other all the time, and I don't think I've ever seen you and Sirius touch on purpose." Gen replies. Remus can't decide if she's making an observation or fishing for information – eighteen years later, eighteen years of loving Nash and even longer fighting his love for Sirius, and all it took was one broken teenage Black to come bursting into the picture and bring back memories of the feelings that Remus fought so hard to avoid.

 _"_ _Lupin, I need to talk to you," Natasha Williams had whispered in his ear as she brushed past him in the corridor, her fingers momentarily but desperately grasping at his wrist._

 _"_ _What's that about, mate?" Peter had asked, whilst James and Sirius looked at him curiously._

 _"_ _Dunno."_

 _"_ _Maybe she has a question about the rules or something, needs a prefect's opinion," James says with a chuckle._

 _"_ _Mates, you're the only ones I know who need a prefect on call to find out exactly how much trouble your plan-of-the-moment is going to get you into." Remus replies. He's not told his friends that he drunkenly shagged Natasha one night a few months ago, and he certainly doesn't plan on telling them now._

 _Wait. He drunkenly shagged Natasha a few months ago._

 _After classes that night, Remus was sitting in the common room, running his fingers through Sirius's silky hair and listening to James blather on about professional Quidditch, whilst Peter struggled through an essay he'd been assigned after exploding yet another cauldron._

 _He wasn't quite content, though: His stomach was turning at the thought of what Natasha was going to tell him. When he saw her crawl through the portrait hole with Marlene and Lily, Remus jumped up and bounded over to her. The pair waited until the Marauders were fairly distracted by Lily and Marlene, and then snuck back out the portrait hole to find an empty classroom._

 _"_ _I've always admired you four," Natasha is telling him. "You're all so, well, cool." She sits in silence for a moment, looking at her shoes. Remus is sitting on the professor's desk, looking just as cool as Natasha thinks he is. "Lupin, I'm pregnant," she blurts out._

 _"_ _I, er, oh," Remus replies. "I suppose you should probably start calling me Remus, then.'_

"Sirius," Remus slurs, drunkenly throwing his arms around his best friend.

"Moons, what are you doing?" Sirius asks, gently extracting himself from Remus. The two men are standing in Sirius's kitchen, Remus having just Flooed in. It's going on one in the morning, and Sirius is shirtless, his hair loose around his shoulders, a pair of thin cotton pyjamas hanging low on his hips, and he's lazily flicking his wand in an attempt to clean the kitchen somewhat.

"Pads, Nash didn't know that Gen was mine," he explains. "She told me the baby was mine and she didn't know. Pads, I love how sexy you are without a shirt."

"Remus, what are you doing? You're drunk and you're talking nonsense." Sirius replies firmly, trying not to moan as Remus traces the constellation tattooed on his chest.

"You never told me what these stars are."

"The constellation is Leo. The star above my heart is Regulus." Sirius's voice is strained, as if he's holding back both tears and desire.

"I can't pull you in to kiss me when you're not wearing a shirt."

"Remus, you're drunk. Go home to your wife and I'll go back to the bed that I'm sharing with my boyfriend."

"I don't want Nash, I want you," Remus tells him, his fingers clawing at Sirius's back, pulling him in hard for a kiss.

"Remus, _no_. I'm going back to bed."

"Nash, love, we need to talk. Why did you tell me that Gen was mine?" Remus said the next morning, gulping water as if he'd never seen water before and never would again. He wasn't entirely sure how he had made it home, as his last recollection from the previous night was Sirius angrily leaving him alone in the kitchen.

"Re, I never did tell you Gen was yours. I told you I was pregnant. I let you fill in the rest. I certainly hoped she was yours, but you reacted better than the other few I told. When I told Regulus, he told me he'd help me get rid of it, but that a nice Pureblood Slytherin girl was also pregnant and he couldn't have her or his family knowing that he'd also been with _me_."

"Nash, I just wish you had told me earlier," Remus tells his wife, choking back tears.

"I didn't realize that you were with Sirius when I told you," Nash says quietly, wrapping both of her hands around the warm mug in front of her and decidedly not looking at her husband. "I never knew how much you loved him. I wanted to tell you earlier, but I was afraid you'd leave me."

"Nash, I love _you_. I love you more than anything, even if we did things out of order. And I love our children, and I love James and Lily and their lot, and I loved Pete, and I love Romulus, and yes, I love Sirius. But you – you're my wife. And I would not have left you."

"I know that now, Re. You've been nothing but a wonderful husband and fantastic father. I'm so sorry for making you leave Sirius. You deserved to be happy."

"I got Remus home last night," Elle tells Sirius as he enters the kitchen the next morning. Elle is standing over a mixing bowl on the counter, stirring something that already smells delicious. "I'm assuming we're not telling Matt or Rom that he was here?"

"You're wonderful, love. Did you happen to get any insight into what he came to tell me? He was talking nonsense, but he only does that when there's something important. You should have heard him when he was trying to tell us he was a werewolf."

The pair talk for a few minutes, trying to piece together what Remus was trying to tell them from the small bits that _did_ make sense. Elle has already grown far more comfortable with Sirius, although Sirius can still see the fear and anger running through her veins. Of course, and this Sirius knows from experience, that fear and anger never really goes away.

"Sirius, I don't want to go back to Durmstrang." She announces suddenly, spinning to look at him, terror and tears filling her wide grey eyes. In two steps, Sirius is across the kitchen, wrapping his tiny, shaking niece in his arms. As soon as he hugs her, she's crying loudly and barely standing on her own.

"It's okay, love. You're safe, and we'll work something out. I'll not make you go back there. You're safe. You're safe."


	16. Chapter 16

Cassiopeia carefully smoothed a set of green silk dress robes over her flat stomach, magicked her blonde hair into a perfect chignon, and walked out the front door without even noticing that her husband wasn't in his usual place in his study. That wasn't unusual. She didn't often speak to her husband. It wasn't that they didn't get along, because she supposed they did. It was more that they just didn't have much to talk about. They both knew that their marriage was more one of status and duty than love. Well, they did love each other, she supposed, inasmuch as either were capable of feeling love. She loved the way that people stopped and stared when she walked into a room on her husband's arm. She loved the way that people spoke to them, as though everyone knows that they are the de facto rulers of magical England. She loved the way that everyone knew her children – or at least, she used to. Now, her daughter was nothing more than a source of shame. She had failed in raising her daughter to be a proper Black heiress. The heels of her handmade boots clicked on the sidewalk, her robes swished around her feet as she strode confidently.

Had anyone been around to notice, they would have seen that the regal figure appeared to just _vanish_ as she turned a corner.

Sirius, Elle, and Romulus heard a small "pop" outside, but assumed that it was most likely either one of the Potters or the Lupins. Sirius had gone ahead and given Elle one set of gifts – a pair of dark jeans, an absurdly soft cashmere sweater – the same grey as her eyes – and a pair of matching flats. Tears had immediately sprung into her eyes, but she had also gone to change immediately, thrilled to be rid of the uncomfortable clothes from what she had already come to think of as "before" and the comfortable but slightly ill-fitting clothes that she had borrowed from Genevieve. Her hair was in a soft braid, and the cut of the sweater showed Sirius part of a tattoo on her collarbone that he hadn't noticed before. She looked comfortable and, for the first time since she had arrived at his door, she actually looked like an 18-year-old, rather than an older woman in a young body.

Romulus had also been given a gift early – a new wizard's chess set that could easily be enchanted so that the human player was playing against the board itself. He was laying in the floor of the lounge, carefully thinking through every move. Elle was lazily flipping through the same werewolf legislation book that she had been reading just the day before. Sirius was once again sketching, this time drawing a memory of himself and his friends during their Hogwarts years.

A knock on the door alerted the trio to the fact that the pop had not, in fact, been a friend. Elle quickly jumped to her feet to answer the door, before remembering that her parents hated her and likely wanted her dead. She sank back down into the cushions of the armchair, the blood draining from her face. There was another strong knock, before Romulus's wolf ears heard the door swing open.

"Dad," he said softly, with a meaningful glance towards where the sound had come from. Sirius rose to his feet, suddenly alarmed. He could think of only two people who would knock and then enter uninvited, and neither were welcome (and one, in fact, had recently been arrested).

A striking blonde woman was suddenly standing in the doorway between the small foyer and the lounge, and an easy smile spread across Sirius's face (of course, he was feeling rather _un_ easy, but he wasn't going to let his cousin and sister-in-law know that). Elle turned even whiter, if that was possible, and looked absolutely terrified. Rom wanted to protect her somehow, but didn't quite know how.

"Cass," Sirius said, his smile growing even further. "How absolutely wonderful to see you again! It's been, how long, nearly twenty years?" Cassiopeia looked at him, confused. How was he so happy to see her? "Please, do come in. In fact, why don't we step into the kitchen? I can make you a cup of tea. I suspect you're here to either ask after your husband or to offer your daughter's hand in marriage, and both of those will be an easier potion to swallow if it's with tea in hand." He walked towards Cassiopeia, putting one hand firmly on her arm and all but dragging into the kitchen, away from her daughter. He hoped that Elle and Rom would recognize what he was doing and take the hint to get Elle out.

"Sirius Orion, what are you doing? How dare you touch me with those blood traitor hands?" She said, calmly and quietly. She was so unlike his mother, Sirius realized, and was thus grateful that she wasn't shouty. Of course, she was still evil and cold, but at least she wasn't screaming about half-bloods and blood traitors and _monsters_.

"My _blood traitor hands_ are the reason that your daughter is _still alive,_ Cass, so sod off."

"Your _blood traitor hands_ are the reason that my daughter is even in this situation, _Sirius_ , so you'd do well not to tell me to sod off. Don't act like you haven't been communicating with her for all of these years," she responded, her enunciation and haughty tone matching his.

"Cass, I didn't even know that you even _had_ a daughter until she showed up round here in the middle of the night, bruised and bloodied and, quite frankly, looking like she'd been through hell, so I'll bloody well tell you to sod off if I want, and you should just be grateful that that's all I've told you to do. Now. Would you prefer tea or something stronger?"


	17. Chapter 17

Romulus and Electra turned at stared at each other, wide-eyed, uncertain of what to do. They didn't know each other well enough yet to communicate silently, and they had both had vastly different experiences in their lives and in Ellie's experience, is was better to just be quiet and hope to Merlin that her parents forgot about her presence. In Romulus's experiences, all things could be solved through the combined efforts of Sirius, James, and Remus. As such, Rom began making his way to the fireplace, ready to Floo James and Remus. As he grabbed the small bag from the mantel, however, Elle grabbed his wrist, her nails unintentionally digging in to his skin so deeply that they drew blood. Releasing her hand, she slowly and nervously shook her head.

"Don't," she whispered silently, her eyes filled with fear. Romulus slowly drew his hand back down, unsure of whether he was making the right decision. The fear in her eyes slowly gave way to anger, a veritable storm flashing in the grey – a look that Romulus had seen in Sirius so many times. He immediately realized that Elle was absolutely not to be messed with right now, and so he plopped himself back on the floor and resumed his game. Elle was once again flipping through her book, but even more half-heartedly than she had been doing before her mother interrupted.

"Are you entirely certain that you don't want to marry her?" Cassiopeia asks Sirius, crossing her arms and staring down the man who is simultaneously her cousin, half-brother, brother-in-law, and her former intended (once upon a very long time ago, she supposed). "It would be an excellent gesture and would be almost guaranteed to reunite you with the family."

"Cass, I absolutely do not want to marry her. I have _never_ been so certain of anything in my life. And why the hell would I _want_ to be re-united with the family? Have you any idea where your husband is today?" When Cassiopeia was silent, refusing to even look at Sirius, he continued on. "He was arrested yesterday, right here, after breaking in, threatening the lives of practically everyone present, and _putting Electra under the Imperius curse._ An _unforgiveable_ curse on his _daughter._ On _yours_ , Cass. I never thought you were like the rest of them, but I was apparently wrong."

"It's just the Imperius, Sirius Orion. It's not like he was torturing her, and quite frankly, she deserved it after what she did to him."

"She _deserved_ it? Your eighteen year old daughter deserved to have an unforgiveable curse put on her just because she dared defend herself against her abusive father? Cass, that's not how this works and you know it. I'm not marrying her, but I am keeping her. There is no way I am sending her back to live with you. I, unlike some people, actually have a moral compass and believe in protecting children."

"She's 18, Sirius Orion. She's not a child and, what's more, you can't tell her what to do."

"She's 18, you can't tell her what to do either. I suppose that means it's up to her. Shall we see if she's still in the lounge and ask her ourselves?" Sirius rose, but Electra was halfway into the room before he had the opportunity to even move. He suspected she had been listening the entire time but, for her sake, hoped that she wasn't. It infuriated him to think that she could have heard the things her mother said – no matter what Cassiopeia said, no child deserved to have an unforgiveable curse put on her.

"If this means that I get to make my own decisions," Elle started in the clipped, posh, haughty accent that Sirius recognized as his own, "I shall be staying here indefinitely, should Sirius allow it." She drew herself up to her full height, which admittedly wasn't very tall, and stared down her mother. "After all, you have disinherited me and I see no need to return to your home." Sirius watched as her left hand tightened into a fist and he wanted to applaud – or perhaps hug – her, and it took all of his self-control to stay where he was. "And, to be frank, whether I even complete my education at Durmstrang is no longer up to you, and I believe that I have no reason to share my life with you, nor do you have any reason to expect me to do so. Now, if you'll be so kind as to excuse yourself from Sirius's home and kindly forget that you ever knew of its location, I think I speak for everyone when I say that would be very much appreciated."

Cassiopeia looked from Electra to Sirius, back to Electra. She was suddenly struck by how alike they were. She knew they looked alike, of course, but she never realized that Electra had possessed the same fire that she remembered from the teenaged Sirius. Without a word, she stood, turned on her heel, and swept from the room. She was composed and poised, and only the slam of the front door gave away her anger.

As soon as she was out of the room, Elle seized the nearest object – a delicate teacup – and, without thinking, threw it against the wall. As soon as she realized what she had done, fear gripped her heart and she turned to look at Sirius, in nervous anticipation of his reaction. Rather than the berating – or beating – that she would have received from her father, Sirius gave her a wolfish grin and handed her another cup.

"I'm going to go challenge Rom to a chess match. Smash whatever you need to smash. Oh, and Elle?" He said, turning back to face her on his way out of the kitchen. "I'm proud of you. I know standing up to them isn't easy."

"Sirius?"

"Yeah, love?"

"Why does she call you Sirius Orion?"

"Oh, Elle," he says with a sad smile. "It's her own little way of reminding me of who I am, of who my family is, of that fact that I'll never be good enough. It's a power play, love. Orion, you probably know, was my father. She's trying to make sure I never forget that I was supposed to be the heir." With that, Sirius crossed back to her, put a teacup in her hand, kissed her forehead, and wordlessly strode from the kitchen.

Elle turned the teacup over in her hand, carefully examining it. It was small, delicate, clearly old. As she examined the design more closely, she realized that it was actually tiny stars spelling "The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black" in Latin. Smiling at what Sirius had given her permission to do, she mustered all of her strength and smashed it against the wall, letting out a guttural, almost primal scream.

Sirius, hearing it from the other room, smiled wryly and chuckled to himself. He knew that sound – he had made that sound more times than he could count. "Rom, I think she's here to stay."

The rest of the holiday somehow passed without any additional familial relations showing up at Sirius's door. Sirius had very much enjoyed spending a few days watching Elle interact with her new family – she and Gen were already thick as thieves and could frequently be found giggling together.

Sirius, of course, was also there when Electra started to fall apart. He had a whole collection of Black family heirlooms available for smashing and was always ready to stroke her hair or rub circles on her back when she needed a good cry or when she was fighting a panic attack.

Finally, Sirius realized, he had to start figuring out Elle's schooling situation. He didn't want their awful family to keep her from finishing school one term before she was due to graduate, but he also couldn't bring himself to force her back to Durmstrang.


	18. Chapter 18

"What do I _do?_ " Sirius whined to his friends, as the five were sat in James and Lily's lounge. "I can't send her back to Durmstrang. I can't keep her home. Is it even possible to send her to Hogwarts? Will they take her this close to NEWTs?" A goblet full of a delicate white wine in his hands, he was staring into the depths of the glass and had yet to even take a sip. James was sitting next to Sirius, one arm draped over the man's shoulders, with Nash perched cautiously on the other side, occasionally patting his knee. Sirius still wasn't sure what had happened, but he had noticed a subtle shift in the way Nash treated him after the night Remus had shown up round his unexpectedly– it was almost as though she was more and less comfortable around him simultaneously. Schrodinger's relationship with your ex-boyfriend's wife? Nah, that was a mouthful. Regardless, figuring out what had changed between them was hardly his top priority right now (Remus and Lily, for the record, were half-cuddled in the oversized armchair that Lily had taken from her dad when she and James were married – it was ancient, likely to collapse soon, and beautifully comfortable).

"Have you owled Minnie or Al? One of them might be of more helpful than the lot of us," James pointed out. Sirius hated him for being the logical one in this situation, but he had to admit that his brother had a point. "Er, maybe Minnie is a better option. She always was more – sympathetic – to your family situation."

"Plus, Elle is technically a member of Gryffindor, so Minnie should be her head of house," Remus added.

"Okay. I have to ask." Nash started, but then turned pink and stopped herself.

"Minnie is their little, er, term of endearment for McGonagall," Lily explained, correctly guessing what Nash was going to ask. "I suppose when someone serves as many detentions as these three did, they – er, yeah, I really don't know."

Suddenly, Sirius drained his wine, stood, and threw the glass against the wall. Remus and James winced, recognizing the look in his eyes as the same one they had seen all too frequently during their sixth and seventh years. "I _can't_ send her back there!" He shouted. "I just – I can't." He sank back down into the sofa, looking utterly defeated. "Er, sorry, Lils," he muttered sheepishly.

"No worries," Lily assured him as she waved her wand to clean up the shattered glass. "It's just a glass. No harm done. Er, Nash, help me in the kitchen?" The two women stood and left the room, Lily feeling that Sirius needed a few moments with James and Remus.

"Mate, you okay? We're worried about you. Elle showing up has to be bringing up loads of memories that you'd probably rather not think about." James muttered, blunt as usual. He had never been one to skate around the truth and, while Remus thought that he could be more tactful, he also appreciated it – especially on occasions like this.

"Yeah, love, it's been ages since we've seen you smash trinkets." Remus had taken his wife's place on the couch, and the three men were a tangle of limbs for the first time since they were teenagers.

"I know, yeah, and I know that that was really bad and I shouldn't have done, but I just. I don't. I can't. I love Elle, and I'm not kicking her out after I promised she could stay, but yeah. It's been tough. I haven't been this, this, this _angry"_ in years. I haven't any idea how Reg could just watch what our dad did, hell, _feel_ what our dad did, because I wasn't the only one he took it all out on, and _do the same thing to her._ "

"Siri, I think you're the only person who expected Regulus to turn out more like you and less like your father," James says, pulling Sirius in for a tight hug. "I always thought he was kind of awful, to be quite honest. Prefect meetings with him made me consider murder during seventh year."

"And, love, you were both _kids._ What do you think you could have done?" Remus muttered, pressing his lips to Sirius's neck. "We all know that you did your best to protect him, Sear." The three men stay like that for a while, the tangle of limbs turning into a trio of hugs. Sirius wants nothing more than to turn and press his mouth to Remus's, and he has the distinct feeling that neither Remus nor James would object, and yet he can't bring himself to do it. He thinks of Matt, of Nash, of the children who would be shocked to discover that the relationship between the two men wasn't always that of two old mates. Instead, Sirius leans closer to James, subconsciously pulling away from Remus. After who knows how long, Remus breaks the silence by clearing his throat. "Shall I go and see what Lily and Nash are up to, and maybe fetch some parchment and a quill so that you can owl Minnie?"

"I don't know what happened between the two of you, but your relationship has changed since Elle's been here." James whispers to Sirius.

"Oh, yeah. Well. We sort of snogged the first night she was here, I guess, and Elle has reminded me so much of what it was like when I left and I guess I just keep thinking about everything that happened between us when we were teenagers."

The two sit together in brotherly silence, both deep in thought, until Remus comes back into the room with Lily and Nash on his heels, both laughing. When the two men look up, they see Remus somehow drenched in ink, carrying parchment and a quill and looking quite frazzled. "I tripped," he offers, and the three men join in the laughter. Sirius is grateful for the break in the tension, especially following his loss of control in smashing his glass.


	19. Chapter 19

My dearest Minnie,

I trust you remember the tension between myself and my family, particularly in my last few years at Hogwarts. I myself will never forget the look on my dear brother's face when I saw him at the Welcome Feast during my sixth year, the first time I had seen him since I was unceremoniously thrown from my parents' household. As it turns out, Regulus has a darling daughter, aged 18, and he has turned out to be as skilled a father as Orion was. I have only recently learnt of the existence of Electra, who has thus far been educated at the Durmstrang Academy, and who appeared at my home just before Christmas, having been as unceremoniously thrown from her household as I was from mine. I cannot find it in me to send her back to Durmstrang for her last term, and as I begrudgingly admit that she has likely received an excellent education in regards to what she must know for the NEWT examinations and given that she attended Hogwarts for exactly one night before her parents removed her due to her placement in Gryffindor, I am hoping that it might be possible for Hogwarts to accept her for her final term. Kindly owl or Floo me as soon as you see fit, Minnie. I shall be anxiously awaiting your reply.

Gryffindor-ly yours,

Sirius Black


	20. Chapter 20

Minerva McGonagall taught Sirius Black for seven years. During those seven years, she had learnt to recognize not only his day-to-day handwriting, but also what the occasionally flaws in his usually impeccable script meant. As such, when she received the owl from her former student, she immediately saw that he was stressed and perhaps nervous about something with his family. Reading the letter, of course, explained the situation further, but she knew that she absolutely had to go and see him. She Flooed to his house as soon as she read the letter, hoping to Merlin that he was home. Of course, if the girl he had written about was there as well, that would be an added bonus.

As soon as she stepped out of the fireplace in Sirius's home, she heard the unmistakable sound of James Potter's laughter and Remus Lupin's growl. She could hear snippets of conversation between Lily Evans (no, Potter – it had been years and she still wasn't used to calling her Potter rather than Evans) and Genevieve Lupin, between Harry and Romulus and John. She recognized Petunia's high-pitched, almost flute-like giggle. In short, she thought to herself, it was the sound of family overlapped with the sound of utensils on plates, the sounds of dinner. She contemplated waiting in the comfortable looking sitting room, but found herself drawn to the source of the noise. She carefully opened a door to find a large dining room, with the three families all sat around the table, complete with a young woman that was clearly the Electra that Sirius had written her about. The room went silent as she entered, fear flashing in the eyes of this unknown and yet so familiar child.

"MINNIE!" James shouted, standing and wrapping her in an embrace. "We are so thrilled to see you!" Minerva suspected that maybe, just maybe, James, Lily, and their friends were more thrilled to see her than their children, who surely felt like they couldn't quite escape their transfiguration professor and head of house.

"Thank you for coming, Min," Sirius whispered in her ear as he followed his best friend's lead and hugged her closely. "Would you like to join us? I'm certain we could make room," he said, gesturing to the long table and chuckling. We were just about to bring out the cake that Nash baked, I believe, maybe some tea and coffee as well."

"That would be lovely, Sirius." Minerva responds, finding herself smiling warmly in spite of herself. She knows that this is a dire situation, but it just thrills her to see three of her favorite former students. It would have been even better, of course, had Peter been present, but that was hardly possible, given that he had attempted to spy for Voldemort and had done such a poor job of it that he ended up unintentionally destroying both Voldemort and himself in the process.

"Min, this is my boyfriend, Matt, and my niece, Elle, and I believe you know everyone else present," Sirius said, offering her a chair between himself and Electra, and waving his wand to clear the table. Another wave of his wand and a large cake was floating into the room, a stack of clean plates and a teapot next to it. "Matt's a muggle and has only recently learned of the wizarding world, so he's still a bit overwhelmed by it all," he half-whispered conspiratorially, explaining the awestruck look on the face of the one man she hadn't recognized immediately.

As soon as the cake is cut and distributed, the conversation and laughter picks back up. Minerva finds herself loving it – the sense of family, of community, of love. She's mostly thrilled that Sirius and Remus, the lost boys who had been sorted into her house all those years ago, still have the families that they found at school. She leans over Sirius and engages Matt in a conversation about _his_ world, giggling like a schoolgirl at some of the stories that he tells her. Electra, however, is almost the lightning rod of the room. Minerva can't help but notice that almost everyone is watching her with one eye, as if waiting to see if she breaks.

Elle is overwhelmed. She's still unused to the love that she has experienced, to the large family sitting around the table. She suddenly finds herself craving the silent, stone walls of her childhood house, the quiet meals, even the coldness of her bedroom. She wants to cry, or perhaps scream, or maybe smash a few more trinkets. She doesn't want to be sitting here, eating cake, listening to James and Remus regale the table with some of the family-friendly stories of their Hogwarts pranks, listening to Lily and Nash try to convince Gen to talk about an apparent secret boyfriend. She stands suddenly, her chest growing tight, tears pricking behind her eyes, inexplicable panic racing through her veins. Immediately, of course, she recognizes the mistake. Everyone is staring at her. She quickly escapes the room, making as far as the hallway immediately outside of the room. She leans against a wall, sinking to the floor, scrubbing a hand over her face, and letting out a distraught sob. She hadn't thought to perform a silencing charm before she starting crying loudly, gasping for air and practically screaming. She has no idea what's wrong, why she feels like this. She should be grateful for the hospitality and kindness that Sirius has shown her, thankful that she found somewhere to go after the fiasco with her family – and she is, of course. She's never been more thankful for any person in her entire life, but she still can't help but feel that something's just not quite right.

"Ellie," a soft voice says suddenly, and she feels warmth and weight next to her on the wooden floor. "Ellie, you're okay. No one is going to hurt you. Can I touch your arm?" Her uncle asks. She nods, looking up at him, but the anger that flashes in his eyes frightens her and she finds herself unwittingly pulling away from him, trying to fold in on herself. "Ellie. Oh, Ellie. I won't touch you, I promise, but I will happily listen if you feel like talking."

This time, Elle shakes her head, answers his question anyways. "I suppose I just felt overwhelmed. I'm terribly sorry if I've ruined the evening." Her voice is quiet, and a _tut_ from somewhere above her head alerts her to the fact that she and Sirius weren't alone in the hall. The tall woman who had entered was standing there, looking at Sirius and Elle with an expression that Elle couldn't quite read.

"Elle, you haven't ruined a thing." At that, she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her grey eyes. Minerva is suddenly struck by exactly how much Elle looks like Sirius – she can't count the number of times she remembers seeing Sirius rest his head on Remus just like this, and the positions switching the closer it drew to the full moons. She smiles, clears her throat.

"Shall we have a chat about school? Or would you rather do it another time? I Flooed her as soon as I received your owl, Sirius."

"Elle, Minnie is my old transfiguration professor and the head of Gryffindor house. I wrote her this morning about whether we could get you to Hogwarts for the rest of the year, since you clearly expressed your desire to not return to Durmstrang. Are you up for that chat now? The three of us could go to my study," he murmured into his niece's hair, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head. She wiped her eyes with the heel of her left hand, yanking it away and yelping in startled pain when she accidentally brushes the branded words against her tear-stained cheek. Minerva looks startled, but Sirius looks simultaneously angry and resigned.

"Yes. Yes, let's have that chat now," she says, her voice dark, her grey eyes clouded over with a quietly intense fury.

Sirius led Minerva and Elle to his study, a small-ish room with a desk, two comfortable looking leather armchairs, and walls lined with more books about werewolves and other "dangerous half-breeds" than Elle had ever known existed. Minerva settled herself on the chair behind Sirius's desk, Sirius sat comfortably in one of the armchairs, one ankle crossed over the other knee, and Elle perched herself on the very edge of the other chair, her ankles crossed and her hands folded primly in her lap. Sirius recognizes this – the _properness_ of it all – it's likely a subconscious defense mechanism against being beaten by her father or quietly hexed by her mother.

"Well, Electra," Minerva starts, before Sirius cuts in and corrects her. "Very well. Elle. It should be relatively easy to transition you into Hogwarts academically, provided that we receive your transcripts from Durmstrang so that we know what classes to put you in. Socially, however, may be a different story. Sirius, it's my understanding that she actually attended Hogwarts for a very brief period?" Sirius shrugs and nods at Elle, wordlessly asking her to answer.

"Yes, Professor. I was there for one night. I left, er, well, I left the next morning. My parents. See. They were less than thrilled with my sorting. Gryffindor."

"Well, that should help. You'll be a seventh year Gryffindor, so you'll be in a dorm with Ms. Lupin," Minerva says with a gentle smile. "However, there is one thing I'm concerned about." She turns back to Sirius. "I seem to remember your brother and cousins tormenting and rather antagonizing you. Regulus, of course, and Narcissa and Bellatrix, mostly, although I suppose that Lucius is also your cousin now."

"Er. Yes. There, there was that. But it's not like they'll be there. Cissy and Bella aren't there anymore. Elle is an only child. Sev-" he starts, but Elle cuts him off.

"Actually, I'm not. I've, er, I've a younger brother. Orion. He was also at Durmstrang. He's, well, he, er. I." She cuts herself off, blushing a furious shade of red and starting at the floor. It's the first time that Sirius has seen any sort of colour in her pale cheeks.

"Bloody hell. Okay. Well, Elle's not an only child, but at least she'll be away from him rather than at school with him."

"Sirius, it's not the, er, lovely Black sisters themselves that I'm worried about. Narcissa and Lucius have a son, the same year as Romulus. He has friends. Many of his friends have parents that haven't completely forgotten you. I'll do my best to protect her, of course, but I seem to recall you being hexed walking down the hall, having food flung at you, being shouted at. I just want this to be something you think about."

Elle mumbles something that neither quite catch, but no one has the heart to ask her to repeat it. She still has two patches of colour dotting her cheekbones, her eyes no longer a flashing storm but rather a dull grey.

"Elle, if you are serious about attending, I'll have Headmaster Dumbledore owl Durmstrang for your records. Mr. Black, I'll let you get back to your family but I'll be certainly be in touch. Please keep an eye out for my owl." She offered Sirius a warm hug, winks at Elle, and puts her hands on Matt's shoulders. Elle and Sirius looked at each other, neither having even noticed that he had entered the room. "You, sir. You take care of him. Merlin knows he needs it."


	21. Chapter 21

After a flurry of owls back and forth between Sirius, Hogwarts, and Durmstrang, Elle found herself anxiously sitting on the train to Hogwarts with Genevieve. Her hands were shaking, her wrist was burning, the constellation tattooed on her collarbone was glowing. Sirius had seen her off with a hug and whispered assurances. She had never been so nervous about going to school – as awful as Durmstrang had been, at least _they_ hadn't been there. Tears were stinging her eyes, her emotions were a lump in her throat. Gen was casual, comfortable, chatting incessantly. She was trying to fill Elle in on her friends, but the hurricane brewing in Elle's head made it hard to pay any attention. Suddenly, a gaggle of teenage girls opened the door to the compartment and threw themselves in. Elle jumped, squeezing herself into as tiny a corner as possible. Gen quickly introduced everyone, but Elle didn't catch a single name. The girls started chatting quickly about their holiday, about the acceptance that one girl received to a renowned Healer training program, about another's trip to Paris, another who had been offered a prestigious internship with a member of the Wizengamot.

It was unlike anything Elle had experienced. The girls were all lounging on one another – two had even swapped out their blouses at one point, openly changing in front of the rest of the compartment. It was overwhelming, making Elle's head hurt, and she desperately wished she could escape but had no idea where to go. Gen caught her eye, mouthing "you okay?" Elle tried to muster a small smile, nodding, but she was entirely unconvincing.

"So, Elle, what do you want to do after school?" One of the girls asked. Elle's eyes widened, as she realized that, for the first time in her life, she had a choice. No one had ever asked her this before, as everyone in her life had just assumed that she would finish school, marry well, produce a few heirs, and then take over the role of matriarch of The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. She was destined to be the next Cassiopeia, who had been destined to be the next Walburga, who had been, well, you get the idea. The thought made her sick, anger was coursing through her veins, she wanted to scream or cry or maybe just dig her nails into the sill of the train window and drag them. She could destroy the sill, destroy her nails, and perhaps the splintering of the wood would be less painful than the splintering of her head or her heart. She was vaguely aware that she hadn't yet answered the question, yet that was immaterial as she didn't actually know what the answer was. Besides, she thought, as everyone stared at her awkwardly, it felt as though too much time had passed since the question had been asked. "Anyways," the same girl carried on, apparently unphased by the lack of an answer. "David and I _finally_ got around to shagging over the holiday!" Several of the others squealed, and Elle winced, the sound foreign to her ears. "It was downright, er, _animalistic._ "

"NO." Gen shouted half-heartedly, covering her ears. "I do NOT WANT to hear about werewolf sex! It just makes me think of my mum and dad and that's just not okay." At that, Elle pressed a mouth to her hand to stifle a giggle, and everyone seemed to notice. Oddly, she thought, that little slip was what endeared her to all of Gen's friends and she realized that, for the first time in her life, these people didn't care about who she was or what her surname was or what was in her Gringotts vault – they were just genuinely friendly and cared about her because they cared about Gen. After that, the conversation flowed a bit more flowly, Elle was less hidden in the corner, and even offered the occasional sarcastic comment – those always resulted in raucous laughter. By the time one of the girls – Chloe, Elle thought her name was – looked out the window and announced that they were getting close and should probably change, Elle was actually enjoying herself and had almost forgotten that she was going to a new school and was now part of a new family.

"Er, right," Gen said, as they all begin to just _change_ , not bothering with modesty. "Elle, I know Sirius said you've got the uniform, but have you got all the Gryffindor goodies? I'm sure between us we could pull together a tie and scarf."

"Or I've extras. You can confuse everyone. A new seventh-year that they've never seen before, sitting at the Gryffindor table wearing a Hufflepuff tie."

"Only if she wears one of my Ravenclaw scarves with it."

Elle giggles, buttoning her white blouse. "Sirius ensured that I have all things Gryffindor. I think he'd have given me a lion tattoo had I allowed him."

"Wait. Elle. What's _that_?" The Hufflepuff girl asked, pointing at her collarbone.

"Oh. Er, it's a tattoo. Pleiades. The constellation that houses my namesake star. Er. Yeah. My, er, Elle. It's for Electra. I, er, I know it's probably weird. Getting a tattoo of your own name. But. Er. Well, I have it."

"Sirius has a tattoo of his star, too," Gen whispered in her ear.

* * *

"Oh, how wonderful! Oh, I love thestrals," Elle said to her new – dare she say it – friends, as she nuzzled one of the skeletal creatures pulling the carriages. "What's your name, hm, love?" She asked the animal quietly. Gen's eyes widened, as she exchanged a glance with the other friends they'd be sharing a carriage with. None were naïve enough to believe that the carriages just pulled themselves, but they were also all unable to see the creatures. Gen had, perhaps foolishly, she realized in retrospect, assumed that Elle would be just as unable to see the thestrals.

"Blood traitor," Gen heard from somewhere nearby. She spun her head, looking for the source, ready to protect her new cousin if necessary. She saw a blond boy that she vaguely recognized as someone from the Slytherin Quidditch team, and her brain was telling her that he was in her brother John's year.

"Draco," Elle said in a cold, high voice, unlike anything Gen had heard from her.

"You dare to use my given name after what you did to the family?" He took a step closer, gripping his wand tightly.

"I do, _Draco_ ," Elle responded. Her own wand was dangling almost lazily between her long fingers, and she too took a step, making the gap between the two purebloods even smaller. "And what are you going to do about it, _curse me_?" In the carriage, Gen gripped the thigh of the girl sitting next to her, terrified of what was about to happen.

"Don't test me."

"You can't possibly do anything to me that he hasn't already done." Elle laughs once, a harsh, dry, humourless bark of a laugh. She had an almost murderous glint in her eyes, and Gen suddenly realized that she actually had no idea what Elle had faced at the hands of her family.

"I said, don't. test. me." The boy positively sneered, reaching his wand out and prodding her left wrist with it. Agony filled her face, and she wordlessly turned on her heel, gracelessly climbed into the carriage. She was already folding back in on herself, her wrist burning, her chest feeling as though it could crack open at any minute. Fortunately, she thought, she hadn't given her cousin the satisfaction of seeing her cry or hearing her shout.


	22. Chapter 22

Elle is grateful that this wasn't a Welcome Feast, there was no Sorting Ceremony for her to endure. She's less grateful for the sneers coming from the Slytherin table, mostly from people she knows and has been forced to spend her life around. More than anything, though, she's grateful for Gen and her friends, for the fact that she's surrounded by Gen and Rom and John and Harry and Lyall and Petunia. She's grateful for the reassuring smile she gets from Professor McGonagall, for the comforting hand on her shoulder as the Scottish witch brings Elle her new course schedule. She's grateful for Gen's guidance up to the Gryffindor tower and for the assurance that she'll show Elle where everything in the castle is first thing tomorrow. She falls into her bed, exhausted with the enormity of the day, listening to the other girls in the room chat. Gen, Elle knows, had given them all a bit of forewarning that they'd have a new roommate, and she appreciates that none of them have given her any problems.

The room slowly grows quiet as the others fall asleep one by one, but Elle is still awake, still tossing and turning. Every time she begins to drift off, a dream-like memory jolts her awake.

 _"_ _You filthy, mudblood loving, blood traitor!" Her father shouts, before leveling his wand at her and sneering the curse. Pain racks her body._

 _"_ _How dare you dishonor your family like this?!" Her mother screeches, as Elle announces that her betrothed is missing and she will not, in fact, be getting married._

 _"_ _Blood traitor," the little blond brat spits at her, giving her a glimpse into what she'll spend the next several months learning to endure._

Every time, she bolts upright in her bed, taking a few minutes to remember where she it. Finally, unable to take it anymore, she climbs out of bed, fetching her wand, parchment and a quill and, perhaps rashly, an old plate emblazoned with the Black family crest. It had been a sort of parting gift from Sirius, and she had thought him mad until he winked and told her that she's understand "as soon as she used it as intended." She had a feeling, of course, that he didn't mean it was to be used as a plate. She still wasn't certain what he meant, but she was taking it down to the common room with her regardless.

She settled herself on an armchair by the fire, twisting her black hair into a knot and securing it with her wand.

 _Dearest Sirius,_ she started to write, but she wasn't sure what to say. Panic gripped her heart at the thought of going to classes tomorrow. Gen had explained that after OWLs, when the students were in NEWT level classes, the classes were no longer split up by House but rather all students taking the class had it at the same time. It made sense, of course, as fewer students were likely taking each class, but it still made her nervous as it meant there was no way to avoid the cousins and other family acquaintances that had surely heard of her betrayal by now.

 _I suppose I'm beginning to settle in here. Having Genevieve helps. I'm terrified for classes as I've no idea what to expect. It's honestly a bit baffling to me that the course here is called_ Defence Against _the Dark Arts, rather than just the Dark Arts. I feel like I don't belong here. Will that fade?_

She puts her quill back down, glancing down at the plate next to her. Yanking her wand from her hair, she casts a powerful silencing charm, putting herself in a small bubble that no one else would be able to hear. Shrieking, she seizes the plate and smashes it. It shatters rather satisfyingly – and then is whole again. Furious, she picks it up and throws it again, still screaming, with the same result. She does it a third time, and then a fourth, sobbing now, and continuing in frustration. As she smashes it and watches it repair itself for the eleventh time, she sinks back into the armchair, exhausted and defeated, when it hits her. _This._ This is what Sirius meant when he said the plate's proper purpose. He gave her something that she would always be able to smash. She laughs dryly, the tears slowing. She picks her quill back up, nibbling thoughtfully on the end.

Suddenly, she's acutely aware of the presence of someone behind her. She whips her head around, brandishing her wand. She lowers it when she realizes it's Rom. "You okay, Elle? I, er, I heard you down here. You know. Screaming. Er. Throwing things." He collapses into the chair next to hers, and she cautiously sits back down.

"How? I had everything silenced." She doesn't mind so much that Rom heard, but the fact that others could have makes her nervous.

"Werewolf ears, Elle," he replies, laughing. "That, and I grew up with Dad silencing everything and then screaming and throwing things. I know what silenced antique smashing sounds like." He laughs again, his casualness calming Elle. "Don't worry, no one else seems to have heard."

"I suppose you probably think I'm completely mad." She sounds defeated, exhausted, and Rom recognizes the same sound that he hears in his dad's voice after an unexpected encounter with someone from his past.

"Merlin no," Rom says. "I think you've had a hell of a childhood and that you've just left a horrifically toxic environment and that you _should_ be shouting and throwing things. Hell, I don't even _remember_ my life before Sirius and I still want to smash things when I think about my parents sometimes," sarcasm dripping from his voice on the word _parents_.

"Sirius." Matt says, putting two fingers under his boyfriend's chin and raising his head. "What's wrong? You've not been yourself all night." The two are out to dinner with Matt's family, but Sirius has spent most of the evening staring into his food. Matt presses a kiss behind Sirius's ear. It's the first time that Sirius has met Matt's parents – they've had tonight scheduled since well before Electra stumbled into their lives, and much as Sirius wanted to stay home and be able to respond to any owls immediately, he had decided that it was inappropriate to cancel at the last minute and was now trying to not regret his decision.

"Mm, yeah. Sorry. I'm just, well, worried about Elle. About what Minnie said. Harry already told James that there was some sort of incident with a cousin. I'm. I'm scared, I think." Sirius explains, his grey eyes pleading with Matt to understand.

"Understandable," Matt says. "Dare I ask what kind of incident?"

"Something to do with Draco calling her a –"

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Matt's mother asks, a twinkle in her blue eyes.

"Oh, just sweet nothings," Matt replies smoothly, picking up his glass of wine and taking a long sip. He winks at Sirius, who snakes his left hand under the table and rests it on Matt's thigh. Sirius attempts to be more engaged, more invested, to actually participate in the conversation. He's chosen to forego the wine tonight, sticking instead to water, wanting to be fully alert in case of any unforeseen issues with Elle at Hogwarts. The conversation picks back up, as Matt's father asks Sirius about his work.

Sirius, of course, had worked with Lily and Matt to sterilize the magical aspects of his life – a difficult task, given his pureblood upbringing and that his work revolved around werewolves and the Ministry of Magic and that his son and one of his best friends were both werewolves. He felt prepared, though and hoped that Matt was ready to explain anything _unusual_ that Sirius might accidentally say. As such, he confidently launched into a long speech about advocating for the human rights of everyone and his desire to see the laws change. It's not until he's halfway through the word "lycanthrope," nearly ten minutes later, that he stops talking and shoots a look at Matt. He picks up his water glass and drinks deeply, hoping that no one caught the slip up and that they assume he just needed a drink after all that talking.

"Well, dear, it sounds like you certainly are passionate. We tried to get Matty here to go into law, but teaching was where his interest always was." His mother says with a fond smile. "And, of course, we hear you have a son?"

"Oh! Er, yes. Romulus. I er, adopted him when he was six. He's fourteen – actually, nearly fifteen, in just a few weeks. Very sweet kid. Er, at least as sweet as a teenage boy can be." Sirius offers a slight wink, knowing that the woman would know what he meant by that, having raised several teenage boys herself.

Suddenly, Sirius's wrist is _burning_. Not the slight ache he noticed the night Elle came to his door, not the occasional pang of discomfort he had felt over the last twenty years, but a _burning_ , a searing pain. He yelps, tears fill his eyes, and he unwittingly squeezes Matt's thigh.

"Merlin's _pants,_ " he screams, ignoring the strange looks he receives from not only Matt's family, but also the entire restaurant. Matt pulls Sirius's hand off of his leg, then stands and half-drags him outside.

"Love, what's going on?" He asks urgently, concern clear in his voice. "Are you okay?"

"I. Don't. Know." Sirius mutters through gritted teeth. "I told you about the magically branded words, right? The ones that only Elle and I can see?" Matt nods slowly. "It hasn't hurt in over fifteen bloody years but right now it feels just like it did when it first happened. Merlin I forgot how awful it was."

"Okay, just. Just stay here. I'm going in to tell Mum and Dad that you're not feeling well and that I'm going to take you home. Just. Just. Stay." Matt says, worry in his eyes.

Matt runs back out of the restaurant minutes later, panic still gripping him at the look of excruciating pain on Sirius's face. The way he's holding himself makes Matt think that it's more than just his wrist that hurts, but he has no idea what to do. This is _magic_ , after all, and he's so far out of his comfort zone that he's not even sure if he was ever even in it. "So, shall I take you home?"

"No." Sirius says, still speaking through gritted teeth. "Not home. St. St. Mungo's. Hospital. Magic one. I can tell you how to get there. Remus. Should be there. Healer."


End file.
